Annamacharya, a devotee of Lord Venkateswara, composed thousands of hymns or sankeertanams covering the sringaram and adyathmikam aspects of devotion. Annamacharya's sankeertanas were originally written on palm leaves (Taalapatra) and later engraved on copper plates (Taamrapatra). Of the 32,000 sankeertanas he composed, about 12,000 were un-notated, etched on copper plates, and discovered at Tirumala in 1922. These have since been published as Taallapaka Pada Sahityamu, a 29-volume collection by the Tirumala Tirupati Devastanams. Approximately 1,500 of these sankeertanas have been set to music by renowned composers such as Nedunuri Krishna Murthy, Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna, Srirangam Gopalarathnam, Garimella Balakrishna Prasad, and others.

Well-known musician and composer Sathiraju Venu Madhav chose 108 poems which were not composed and set them to tune in 108 ragas. Tamrapatra was originally a year-long online series of teachings on rare Annamacharya sankeertanas, reaching hundreds of dancers across the globe through Ananda Shankar Jayant's online platform, Natyarambha.

On 11 September 2024, Shankarananda Kalakshetra, in association with the Ministry of Culture, Kalakshetra Foundation, Samanvay festival and the Chidambaram Trust, staged Tamrapatra Live, a series of short classical dances based on the compositions of Annamacharya, set to music by the late musician and singer Sathiraju Venu Madhav.

Seven of these bhava-filled compositions were performed by seven leading dancers as part of Tamrapatra Live. They encompassed the classical art forms of Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi, Mohiniattam and Odissi.

The evening commenced with Vaibhav Arekar depicting Krishna in Dwaraka, reminiscing on Radha. Krishna remembers the beautiful love they shared even though he is aware that time does not go backward. Movingly depicting the male love, loss and longing Vaibhav portrayed a Krishna with the dignity of a King and the tenderness of a lover. This was followed by Gopika Verma's depiction of Radha in the style of Mohiniattam. Verses in Sanskrit to the refrain of Athi shobhitheyam Radha depicted the facets of Radha as she meets Krishna as his equal. The sringara rasa was deeply felt as Gopika painted Radha and Krishna's intimate moments with the flute and the feather. Radha was in the forefront - haughty even when in love.

Deepika Reddy danced to a brisker sankeertanam in Kuchipudi tradition that elaborated on Lord Srinivasa and Alamelu Manga. The poet describes that the Lord and his consort are perfectly matched through this composition. Deepika established this by depicting the Lord's Vamana and Koorma avatarams. The depiction stopped short of elaboration on Alamelu Manga's prowess and importance, throwing open questions on whether the dance elaboration justified the sahityam - of the Lord and his consort being equal.

Anupama Kylash, who, along with Ananda Shankar Jayant, has been the main force behind the Tamrapatra, chose to depict the sringara and viraha of Alamelu Manga. Their time apart is short, yet she resides on the foothills, pining for the Lord and sending the sakhi to him. Anupama Kylash, with her exquisite abhinaya, used imagery like the Lord's bows and conch, wondering if those did not remind him of her eyebrows and neck.

Dancer Sathyanarayana Raju chose to bring to light the comical possibilities of the sankeertanams by depicting the sakhi who was sent to Tirumala by the Goddess. Clad in a colourful and beautiful costume, Sathyanarayana Raju brought the sakhi to the forefront, making the situation all about herself even while accomplishing the mission as is won't in real life. It was heartwarming.

Ananda Sankar Jayant, with her own style - a mix of Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi - danced to the poet's Kalamuluarunu. Here, the poet describes the Goddess as the one encompassing all the six ritus, her hair, and the flowers, which depict vasantam, the heat of her body, the greeshmam, and so on. Juxtaposed with the abhinaya-oriented compositions earlier that evening, Ananda Shankar Jayant used the dynamism of nritta to bring poetry to life.

The last composition for the evening was 'The Divine Puppeteer' by Odissi danseuse Sharmila Biswas. A highly philosophical composition, the choreography had Sharmila Biswas enacting the puppet onstage. The jerks and the movements of the puppets are the twists and turns individuals face in the course of their lives. According to the poet, the hands of the divine hold the strings and the story together. The composition had a dance theatre feel and could have been done with more Odissi's infusion into it.

Throughout the evening, one witnessed the range of Annamacharya poetry, and the dancers demonstrated that they could seamlessly fit into multiple dance forms. It was a visual and aural treat to the rasikas present at Kalakshetra.

By

Sreelatha Rajan