Aranganin Pathaiyil, a dance drama that was presented at Narada Gana Sabha recently, amalgamated documented history, culture and arts, depicting the 48 years journey undertaken by the presiding deity of the Srirangam Temple between 1,323 and 1,371, to escape the invasion by the kings who ruled North India. The presentation was conceptualised by Asha Krishnakumar, a social science researcher, and Dushyanth Sridhar, a well-known speaker on scriptures, with research inputs from Chithra Madhavan, a well-known historian. The dance drama was premiered using LED projections and dance sequences, bringing out the 692 years’ old history.
The ideation and conceptualisation needs to be appreciated. But there was a lack of successful synergistic presentation. With the dancers constantly moving in and out of the stage when the dance sequences were interspersed with visual segments, the show was not absorbing enough, despite the noted dancers Roja Kannan, Priya Murali, Srikanth and Aswathy putting in their hard work. This leads to the question whether the two streams — audio visual projection on screen and dance narrative — on parallel tracks, were failing to strike a balance.
However, the lyrics, mostly from the period before 13th century, with verses from Prabhandam of Azhvars, Daya Satakam, Paduka Sahasram, etc., also included kritis of Arunachala Kavi in Tamil, Purandaradasar in Kannada, Annamacharya in Telugu and Narayana Bhattatri’s Narayaneeyam in Sanskrit, set to an absorbing music by Rajkumar Bharathi, in his inimitable style. It was really enchanting, providing the audience an extraordinary experience of Lord Ranganathar’s 48-year journey, and appropriately depicting the turmoil in Srirangam during the invasion. The presentation used an LED backdrop, and the bedecked, bejeweled image of Utsavamurthy of lord of Srirangam and the Ubhaya Nachiars carried in an aesthetically crafted palanquin, brought alive the experience of the journey of Lord Ranganatha. I wonder why the successful collaboration between conceptualisation and effective presentation failed to strike an emotional chord with the viewers. The execution fell short of expectation. Why? Maybe the choreography needed a little modification.
All kudos to the presenters, who spent a whole year on research and background work, 25 hours of composing music, 120 hours of recording and another 120 hours of mixing and mastering with 29 dancers headed by Roja Kannan. It is definitely a joyous endeavour which highlighted the extreme love and devotion of the people for the lord.
The propagation element of bhakthi through such endeavors needs to be appreciated and undoubtedly, the team work of the group is to be lauded. This journey will have to go to places beyond the borders of Tamil Nadu, and enlighten and inculcate devotion of high order.
