Kalakshetra’s 71^st Art Festival was inaugurated at the Bharata Kalakshetra Auditorium on 23 December 2024.  The inauguration commenced with a welcome address by the Chairman S. Ramadorai. He welcomed the chief guest Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, the Honorable Minister for Culture and Tourism, Government of India. The dignitaries were then called to light the Kuthivillakku to mark the inauguration of the festival.

In his address the minister spoke about the unifying power of culture in a diverse country like ours. He described culture as the life blood of a society and plays a pivotal role in maintaining national unity which is so important in the present context.

Tribute was paid to the maestro Zakir Hussain for his lifelong dedication and contribution to the arts, a minute’s silence was observed by all in his memory. The minister also paid tributes to Rukmini Devi recalling her dedication which led to the founding of a world-renowned institution like Kalakshetra, for the nurturing of Indian classical arts. He also mentioned that it was Rukmini Devi who was instrumental in saving the classical art of Bharatnatyam which was on the brink of extinction. A special exhibition celebrating the legacy of Indian classical arts was also inaugurated.  

This year’s festival was a delightful mix of music, Carnatic and Hindustani, both vocal and instrumental, a choir performance by the Kalakshetra repertoire, folk arts, a group dance presentation from Singapore, and five wonderful dance dramas from the Kalakshetra treasure chest. After the inaugural speeches there was a short presentation by the Kalakshetra choir, a piece entitled Geeta Kala Samanvayam a musical piece written in less than a day by the Kalakshetra faculty for presentation at the inauguration, very well executed by the choir. What followed was truly special. A bhavabhinaya presentation by the nonagenarian legend Vyjayanthimala Bali, she truly epitomises the oft repeated phrase, ‘age is just a number’. She started with an Andal Pasuram, followed by two padams by Ghanam Krishnaiyer, ending with a javali by Dharmapuri Subbarayar. The whole performance was done sitting and just emoting, considering her age this was truly a remarkable feat. Since she was stationary, the audience, especially those at the back, had some difficulty seeing her clearly, the organisers could have moved her closer to the edge of the stage to facilitate better viewing.

Vyjayanthimala was followed by a masterpiece of Kalakshetra, Sita Swayamvaram. Since it was done as a part of the inauguration the full dance drama was not enacted only the final swayamvaram scene was presented. In spite of that, the impact was profound. Those of us who have seen the full version several times still felt the uniqueness of what Rukmini has created.

Day Two

Kannappar Kuravanji, a dance drama choreographed by Rukmini Devi in the year 1962, and often performed to packed audiences each time.  This is the third and final kuravanji created by Rukmini, and its uniqueness is its central theme, which is utter devotion of a simple devotee and his journey towards self-realisation. The music, by Papanasam Sivan, a mixture of classical and folk, steeped in bhakti, was apt for the piece and made for a captivating spectacle. Kannappar has been described by Sekkilar as one of the foremost devotees of Lord Siva and in keeping with this the lyrics too have verses from the Peria Puranam, Sekkilar’s masterpiece. Each time this piece is staged there are inevitably different actors for the various roles, both minor and major. But the beauty of a Kalakshetra production and presentation, is that every time this is staged, the effect is electrifying. This only goes to show that the actors may change but they are able to recreate the magic of these old favourites.

Day Three

A Carnatic vocal concert, by the Malladi Brothers, who in their inimitable style delivered a performance of high quality which they are well known for. They stayed with the greats of the Carnatic firmament and sang their compositions with elan making for a captivating evening of music on the hallowed Kalakshetra stage.

Day Four

We had a Carnatic presentation by the Kalakshetra Choir followed by a solo dance performance by Pavitra Bhatt.

The choir had 39 members including a percussion group playing the maddalam, chenda, and idakka. The members of the choir well trained by the various music teachers gave an excellent performance. This was followed by a solo dance by Pavitra Krishna Bhatt, who had his initial training under Deepak Mazumdar, presently a student of Nityakalyani Vaidyanathan, a disciple of Adyar K Lakshmanan. He started with an alarippu followed by the Natakurunji varnam. He danced with vigour and enthusiasm. He ended with a Kshetriya padam and a tillana in Mohana Kalyani. Nattuvangam was by Nityakalyani Vaidyanathan, vocal by Venugopal, mridangam by Satish Krishnamurthy, and violin by Ishwar Ramakrishnan.

Day five program had a Yakshagana performance followed by a Carnatic violin duet by the Akkarai sisters.

The Yakshaganam performance was truly memorable with elaborate costumes and the folk style presentation was superb. They enacted a small part of the Ramayana with a male doing the part of Sita with excellent dialogue delivery with a lot of humour, the whole show being in Kannada. This was followed by a violin duet by the well-known Akkarai Sisters who truly create magic on their instruments. They started with an Ata tala varnam in Kanada. Of special mention would be the Bhairavi swarajati by Syama Sastry, which she explained well and sang along too. 

On day six, a dance combination of Odissi and Kuchipudi styles was on offer. Odissi was by Rathikant Mohapatra, and his students. They presented five pieces, Ardhanadeeshwara, an Adi Sankara ragamalika-talamalika piece by Raghunath Panigrahi, Jeevanam madhu sangeethamayam choreographed by Rathikant Mohapatra, Sabari from Ramacharita Manas also choregraphed by Rathikant, concluded with Vande Suryam by Angimitra Behra. The performance was adequate without being exceptional.

Kuchipudi was by T. Reddi Lakshmi, who performed solo. After the invocatory piece she performed five pieces from the Kuchipudi repertoire. Shyama Mohana by Swati Tirunal, a javali by Poochi Srinivasa Iyengar, Durga Tarangam  by Yetinarayana Thirtha, a Jayadeva Ashtapadi from Gita Govindam, and concluded with a Prahalada Natakam from the Kuchipudi Yakshaganam tradition. The Ashtapadi was choreographed by Manasi Rao and the rest by her guru Jayarama Rao who also wielded the cymbals for the performance. Vocal was by Venkateswaran, mridangam by Keshavan, violin Raghavendra, flute Suresh, and rhythm pads by Prasanna. The standout piece of this performance was the Poochi Srinivasa Iyengar’s javali which was well presented by Lakshmi.

Day Seven

Kurma Avataram: The second incarnation of Lord Vishnu. This depicts the epic of the churning of the ocean of milk for extracting the nectar that will make one immortal. The verses are taken from the Srimad Bhagavatham in Sanskrit set to music by Papanasam Sivan, choreographed in 1974 by Rukmini Devi, this is another gem of a production from Kalakshetra which has been staged multiple times. The present set of dancers, musicians, and teachers who have brought this old gem to the stage have retained the original impact of the piece. A frequent visitor to Kalakshetra festivals I still feel the excitement before the first curtain rises at the start of the show. Somehow Kalakshetra has that hidden ingredient that never disappoints.

Day Eight

This day we had Nirmanika a thematic presentation from Singapore Apsaras dance company. The theme was architecture through dance. The first piece was a description of Vaastu Sastra in the alarippu format. The second was a sabdam piece with verses taken from Silapadikaram on the construction of a space for a dance presentation. The next was a description of the Pancha Sabai, the five places where Lord Siva is said to have danced his celestial dance. Next, we went for the architecture of the Madurai Meenakshi Temple and the Konark Sun Temple. Then came a medley of five Dikshitar compositions depicting the panchabootha stalams. A brief piece describing the Brihadeeswara Temple of Tanjavur was next but in this piece the lyrics were not clear. The final piece was a description of Borobudur a Buddhist temple in Java Indonesia. The recorded music was loud drowning out the lyrics except for Sikkil Gurucharan who sang the Dikshitar pieces.

Day Nine:  A double header of Carnatic veena by Ramana Balachandra and Hindustani flute by Pandit Ronu Majumdar.

Ramana started with a Abhogi raga keertana then went into the main piece of the concert, a ragam-tanam-pallavi in Behag raga, a beautiful composition of Gopala Krishna Bharathi, this was played in detail with elaborate phrases and nuances. Ramana is an intense artist who breaks into the song to demonstrate to the audience the lyrics that he is playing. An endearing trait.

Pandit Ronu Majumdar is a senior and experienced performer who has travelled widely and has many concerts to his credit. He started with raag Jhinjhoti which he said has Carnatic equivalents, which were close but not same. This was done elaborately in the traditional alap – jor – jhala combination, which was also the central piece of the concert. He concluded with a Pahadi dhun. A concert of a maestro with an able tabla accompaniment by Abhijeet Banerjee and flute support by his disciple Kalpesh Sachala.

Day Ten

Usha Parinayam: This piece has taken inspiration from Bhagavata Melam, in Telugu, written by Vedam Venkataraya Shastry. It is also a popular in Yakshaganam.  The lyrics have been adapted from this traditional folk style. While retaining the essence of the folk tradition Rukmini Devi has modified the dance movements to the Bharatanatyam style, first produced and staged in 1959. It is the story of the demon King Banasuran and the wedding of his daughter Usha. In typical Bhagavatha Melam style there is a story teller, a sootradhar, who sets the mood at the beginning of the story. All the characters are introduced in a special manner, called “Patra Pravesham” with much fanfare and drama, as would be done in the folk tradition, endearing for the viewer. Banasuran one of the foremost devotees of Lord Shiva undergoes severe penance and obtains a boon conferring him unlimited strength from the Lord. As is the wont of such a person he attempts to misuse this boon, this is the story of how he is subdued. Girish Madhu as Banasuran was wonderful, especially the scene of his penance, where he recites the Siva Panchakshara slokam. If fact, all the dancers have dialogues to deliver which they do wonderfully well. Another endearing scene is the conversation between Usha and Anirudh, it had sahityam and dance movements beautifully interspersed. It is a wonder of choreography and a sublime experience for the audience. One cannot but admire the genius of Rukmini Devi when such scenes unfold. Kailashnathan as Anirudh and Indu Nidhish as Usha were exceptional. Another special character was Chitralekha, Usha’s friend and confidant, beautifully played by Krishna.

Day Eleven

Karna Shabadam: This is a post Rukmini Devi production from Kalakshetra, first staged in 1991 and is a masterpiece of choreography by Prof. Janardhanan. Lyrics, in Malayalam, is by Mali Madhavan Nair set to music by S Rajaram. It depicts a poignant part of the Mahabharata epic involving one of the most tragic characters in the story. The friendship between Duryodhana and Karna is the mainstay of this drama. The trails of Karna, the assault on his sense of loyalty to his friend, his discovery of the truth of his birth, his mother’s passionate appeal for him to join his brothers, her fear of the outcome of the war that was looming, all reaches a crescendo when friendship wins and he parts with his mother with a heavy heart.  The frailties of the human mind are exposed when even Duryodhana starts to doubt his friend leading to the need for Karna to swear a terrible oath to convince his friend about his loyalty and everlasting fealty, even sacrificing his mother and brothers in the process. The main parts played by P.T. Narendra as Karna, Girish Madhu as Duryodhana, and Sridevi Jaikrishnan’s brilliant Kunti delivered a profound performance that lingers long after the last curtain closure.   

Prof Janardhanan’s role in these dance dramas cannot be praised enough. His unwavering attention to detail and singular focus in recreating Rukmini Devi’s productions to reach the kind of perfection that we saw during this festival, is truly magnificent.  Karna Shabadam, which was created by him reflects all the grandeur that we can see in the other dance dramas of Kalakshetra. This year we had five dance dramas in four languages, Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam, showcasing the variety that Kalakshetra is able to provide its viewers.

Apart from these eleven days of the festival, there was a wonderful interlude on new year’s morning at Rukmini Arangam. A Carnatic concert by Jayanthi Kumaresh, veena, and Anil Srinivasan, piano. Anil aptly called it an offering, which is what they gave us. This is an annual event organised by Anil in memory of his father, and this has been the fourteenth year that they have collaborated. The unlikely combination of a veena and a piano was able to deliver a stunning classical Carnatic concert. Jayanthi and Anil are able to bring in a sophistication to their music that must be heard to be able to appreciate.  A wonderful way to start the new year.

(The author is a connoisseur of music and dance)