It was a heartwarming moment for the devotees who gathered at Ananda Chandrodayam Sabha Subramanya Temple festival at Kaloor as veteran dance exponent Suyanthi Muraleedharan, 83, and her 60-year-old daughter Sreekala Sasikanth presented a stunning Kathakali-based dance drama on Friday.
The mother and daughter were uniting on stage after four decades. The duo had performed Geethopadesam at TDM Hall in 1983.
Suyanthi “lives and breathes” dance. Born into a family of classical dancers and singers, she started learning Bharatanatyam at the age of 12. Later, she imparted dance lessons to thousands of students over the past several decades.
“We enacted Geethopadesam on stage, as it is rich in devotion and philosophy,” said Suyanthi.
“I composed the song and my husband R Muraleedharan sang the song along with our son Ramesh. I donned the role of Arjuna and my daughter Sreekala performed as Krishna. It is a 16-minute performance that conveys the essence of life.”
Not just Suyanthi and her daughter, the whole family was on stage at the temple festival on Friday. While Ramesh sang at the programme, his wife Seema Ramesh and daughter Laya Ramesh also presented Bharatanatyam.
“My mother is passionate about dancing,” said Sreekala. “Our 88-year-old father went to the studio to record the song for this performance. Though he started his career as an employee of the Bank of India, he loved singing and found a perfect match in my mother. They together used to compose classical dance programmes for years.”
Notably, Suyanthi shared the Guinness world record with nine other dance teachers for a Bharatanatyam performance organised at the Kaloor international stadium two decades ago.