Photo: Avinash PasrichaThe National Devadasi Festival: A Treat to the Mind
The image of a trip to a particular place itself sounds arresting and adventurous. Apart from acquainting us with a new atmosphere and apprising us of vivid identities of our socio-cultural milieu, a trip at times also provides us spiritual delight. And why not? Especially when someone is getting an opportune moment to share some great ideals of the Vaisnava faith, transcending all the boundaries of caste and creed, community and other religions, the journey takes a shape of an ensuing pilgrimage. Like many other pilgrims I felt blessed with the invitation from Devadasi Nrutya Mandir, to perform Sattriya Dance in the 3rd National Devadsi Festival. The thought of visiting the punyabhumi of Lord Jagannath itself, uplifts one to the height of utmost satisfaction and adding to it, when one gets an opportunity to offer Nrityanjali, joy overshadows all bounds. Indeed the fest provided a right set of circumstances to extend the ideals of Bhakti doctrine, of Srimanta Sankaradeva and Shri Shri Madhavadeva and I am thankful to the organizers for giving me this golden chance.
It needs no insisting that through the invitation I could see my cherished desire getting realised. And finally the much awaited moment arrived. Smt Anjanamayee Saikia, who was invited for Odissi recital, my mother Smt Minati Choudhury and I reached Bhubaneswar on 24th September and were warmly received by the organizers of the festival. They handed over the festival brochure which contained pictures of a Mahari Dancer and other faces of young dancers shone the document. The brochure itself gave us an image of the event as we saw the names of well groomed talents. My name amidst those glittering stars humbled me almost, with a sense of nervousness. The mileage I have covered in my career made me felt unworthy for that honour. Nevertheless, the document was evident of an efflorescence of energy and youthful vigour, waiting to enrapture the Orissa audience.
The festival started on time, i.e. sharp at 6:30pm. The Ravindra Mandap was attuned to a musical composition of a Sanskrit verse, creating an auspicious atmosphere. There was a turn out of impressive audience braving the inclement weather. Eminent personalities like Smt Sujata Mohapatra, Shri Ratikanta Mohapatra, Smt Aruna Mohanty Satish Mehta, Sarat Das and other government dignitaries figured the scenario. After the formal inaugural session the festival took its pace with a stunning Vilasini Natyam recital by a senior performer Dr.Anupama Kylash. And the scintillating mood sustained throughout the 3 day festival, in all the recitals of the young dancers like Aishwarya Narayanaswamy (Bharatanatyam) Chennai, Vrata Chigateri (Kuchipudi) Bangalore, Amanda Geroy (Odissi) USA, M.Hemolata Devi (Manipuri), Imhal, Katayani (Kuchipudi) Hyderabad, Sonali Mishra (Odissi),USA , Swarnaprava Biswasroy (Mahari) Berhampur, Parwati Dutta (Kathak) Aurangabad, Sachiko Murakami (Odissi), Japan etc. Within the duration of 20-25 minutes given to each dancer, there was a glimpse of different styles of Indian Dances. Each one dazzling with their own beauty and elegance sculptured a mosaic and the pluralistic voices of our margi traditions with a continuum of uniformity running amidst all of them, was transparent. The inception of most of these dance forms has been within the sacred precincts of the temple and hence Bhakti with varied colours dominated these dance styles. Sitting in the audience and watching the recitals, three of us relished these traits. Within a short period we took a bath of immense joy en route from the display of Navarasas with beautiful elaborations exhibiting thereby layers of human emotions. At the same time, the Angika aspect through the Nritta components of different dance styles with their brilliance, captivated equally the audience and revealed a dancer’s command over both the pure and Abhinaya sequences.
However, what stood out significant for me was the spirit of zeal, dedication and venture amidst the youth of Orissa, with which they have taken up their art form. Glorying in the magnificence of the tradition, the youth is all set in a flight of the Skylark to traverse beyond the layers of perfection and yet retaining a firm grasp over their parental roots. Prabhat Swain’s recital together with the Rudrakshya Team (whom I happened to meet in an informal session during our rehearsals in their institute) are exemplars of the energetic representation. And even the dancers of the foreign soil have imbibed this trait as I felt the same streak of vigorous energy, in their performances too. Learning from Shri Shyamhari Chakra and Anjana mayee Saikia, about the cultural environs of Orissa and the enthusiasm of the youth, gave me a tremendous inspiration. I had sleepless nights on those days and kept on pondering over the source of this energy. With a constant interaction with the dancers, I was overwhelmed to see their sincerity towards the form, together with the sense of utmost responsibility that each dancer along with their Gurus has undertaken, in their meditative journey of dance. It’s a devotion that they owe to their glorious tradition and hence they live to perform their best, not only in individual terms but with a sense of commitment towards the age old tradition and keeping in view the contributions of maestros like Kelucharan Mohapatra, Pankaj Charan Das, Debu Prasad Das, Gagadhar Pradhan and so on. The revolutionary spirit persisted among the senior disciples of these maestros like Late Sanjukta Panigrahi, Madhavi Mudgal, Sujata Mohapatra etc and they have passed on the same traits to the next generation. What a divine pursuit! Moreover the professional spirits with which the youth have taken the dance form together with their own spiritual contentment have helped them in carrying forward their art towards excellence. The festivals like the one we attended, again, encourage these youngsters in striving forward with their aspirations. They provide a forum for close interaction of the blooming talents with senior exponents and thus an ambience of constant bonhomie surrounds the cultural environs.
Their enthusiasm put me in a state of elation but at the same time saddened my mind thinking about my own land and casual attitude with which most of us have approached our Sattriya art form. We are virtually committing a crime by doing injustice to our great time tested enduring tradition. I am constrained to feel so, keeping in mind the growing dissimilarities in the in the basic formulations, seen in the contemporary scenario. But against this, there was a uni-directional motivational force working among the earlier practitioners of the art form. The dedicated spirit was prevalent in the earlier days , when the Sattra exponents expanded the given repertoire with their creative output and met the challenging demands of the margi tradition. This creative zeal continued even in the childhood days of our Adhyapak (Bayanacharya Ghanakanta Bora Muktiyar). But somehow, today, we have failed to retain its significance. While the youthful ventures of other states are agog with advanced activities of research and performative skills, our own generation here, have failed to imbibe our Gurus’ simplicity, elegance, humility and above all ,the spirit of devotion which entailed a continual flow of past in the present. Again apart from Nritya Parva, the annual Sattriya Dance festival organized by Sangeet Natak Akademi, there are no festivals to encourage the youngsters to undertake the field of performing arts seriously. Hence we see a regression in the contemporary scenario from the earlier state of perfection, with the youth failing to meet the demands of high performative skills, in comparison to other states. Let my speculation be regarded as a humble appeal, from one of the co-representatives of our generation, to come forward with a sense of responsibility to our living tradition and try to keep up the spirit of Bhakti. Let the contributions of the great saints and the Sattra maestros entrenched in the sacred precincts of the Naamghars be also highlighted in the proscenium with same intensity of spiritualism through Nritta, Nritya and Natya sequences. Let the contributions of doyens like Late Maniram Dutta Muktiyar, and others who worked to establish the art form in the secular arena of stage do not go waste.
Coming to our role in the festival, Anjana Baideo did a good job in rendering NavaDurga, a composition by Late Shri Pankaj Charan Das and received a good response from the audience. The fact that an Assamese danseuse was practicing the Orissan art form delighted the onlookers. I offered my recital as a Nrityanjali to Lord Jagannath. My presentation began with a verse from Oresa Barnan, a chapter from Sankaradeva’s magnum opus Kirtana Ghosa and concluded with Behar Nac, illustrating the Bargeet Ava Sakhi Pekho Madana Gopal, a composition by Shri Shri Madhavadeva. I wonder whether I could live up to my Adhyapak’s (Bayanacharya Shri Ghanakanta Bora Muktiyar) and audience’s expectations. But the inspiring words from the spectators at the end of my recital made me felt blessed and at the same time, humbled me at the thought of our ancestor’s grandiloquent compositions and choreographic skills together with my Adhyapak’s lessons. I owe to all of them.
The trip will always be a memorable experience in my life and whenever I revisit the tour in my imagination, it enlightens me with a new strength to undertake my art form with seriousness. Thus the trip was a pilgrimage for me and as in any other pilgrimage, my visit to the punyabhumi offered me unbounded joy.
It needs no insisting that through the invitation I could see my cherished desire getting realised. And finally the much awaited moment arrived. Smt Anjanamayee Saikia, who was invited for Odissi recital, my mother Smt Minati Choudhury and I reached Bhubaneswar on 24th September and were warmly received by the organizers of the festival. They handed over the festival brochure which contained pictures of a Mahari Dancer and other faces of young dancers shone the document. The brochure itself gave us an image of the event as we saw the names of well groomed talents. My name amidst those glittering stars humbled me almost, with a sense of nervousness. The mileage I have covered in my career made me felt unworthy for that honour. Nevertheless, the document was evident of an efflorescence of energy and youthful vigour, waiting to enrapture the Orissa audience.
The festival started on time, i.e. sharp at 6:30pm. The Ravindra Mandap was attuned to a musical composition of a Sanskrit verse, creating an auspicious atmosphere. There was a turn out of impressive audience braving the inclement weather. Eminent personalities like Smt Sujata Mohapatra, Shri Ratikanta Mohapatra, Smt Aruna Mohanty Satish Mehta, Sarat Das and other government dignitaries figured the scenario. After the formal inaugural session the festival took its pace with a stunning Vilasini Natyam recital by a senior performer Dr.Anupama Kylash. And the scintillating mood sustained throughout the 3 day festival, in all the recitals of the young dancers like Aishwarya Narayanaswamy (Bharatanatyam) Chennai, Vrata Chigateri (Kuchipudi) Bangalore, Amanda Geroy (Odissi) USA, M.Hemolata Devi (Manipuri), Imhal, Katayani (Kuchipudi) Hyderabad, Sonali Mishra (Odissi),USA , Swarnaprava Biswasroy (Mahari) Berhampur, Parwati Dutta (Kathak) Aurangabad, Sachiko Murakami (Odissi), Japan etc. Within the duration of 20-25 minutes given to each dancer, there was a glimpse of different styles of Indian Dances. Each one dazzling with their own beauty and elegance sculptured a mosaic and the pluralistic voices of our margi traditions with a continuum of uniformity running amidst all of them, was transparent. The inception of most of these dance forms has been within the sacred precincts of the temple and hence Bhakti with varied colours dominated these dance styles. Sitting in the audience and watching the recitals, three of us relished these traits. Within a short period we took a bath of immense joy en route from the display of Navarasas with beautiful elaborations exhibiting thereby layers of human emotions. At the same time, the Angika aspect through the Nritta components of different dance styles with their brilliance, captivated equally the audience and revealed a dancer’s command over both the pure and Abhinaya sequences.
However, what stood out significant for me was the spirit of zeal, dedication and venture amidst the youth of Orissa, with which they have taken up their art form. Glorying in the magnificence of the tradition, the youth is all set in a flight of the Skylark to traverse beyond the layers of perfection and yet retaining a firm grasp over their parental roots. Prabhat Swain’s recital together with the Rudrakshya Team (whom I happened to meet in an informal session during our rehearsals in their institute) are exemplars of the energetic representation. And even the dancers of the foreign soil have imbibed this trait as I felt the same streak of vigorous energy, in their performances too. Learning from Shri Shyamhari Chakra and Anjana mayee Saikia, about the cultural environs of Orissa and the enthusiasm of the youth, gave me a tremendous inspiration. I had sleepless nights on those days and kept on pondering over the source of this energy. With a constant interaction with the dancers, I was overwhelmed to see their sincerity towards the form, together with the sense of utmost responsibility that each dancer along with their Gurus has undertaken, in their meditative journey of dance. It’s a devotion that they owe to their glorious tradition and hence they live to perform their best, not only in individual terms but with a sense of commitment towards the age old tradition and keeping in view the contributions of maestros like Kelucharan Mohapatra, Pankaj Charan Das, Debu Prasad Das, Gagadhar Pradhan and so on. The revolutionary spirit persisted among the senior disciples of these maestros like Late Sanjukta Panigrahi, Madhavi Mudgal, Sujata Mohapatra etc and they have passed on the same traits to the next generation. What a divine pursuit! Moreover the professional spirits with which the youth have taken the dance form together with their own spiritual contentment have helped them in carrying forward their art towards excellence. The festivals like the one we attended, again, encourage these youngsters in striving forward with their aspirations. They provide a forum for close interaction of the blooming talents with senior exponents and thus an ambience of constant bonhomie surrounds the cultural environs.
Their enthusiasm put me in a state of elation but at the same time saddened my mind thinking about my own land and casual attitude with which most of us have approached our Sattriya art form. We are virtually committing a crime by doing injustice to our great time tested enduring tradition. I am constrained to feel so, keeping in mind the growing dissimilarities in the in the basic formulations, seen in the contemporary scenario. But against this, there was a uni-directional motivational force working among the earlier practitioners of the art form. The dedicated spirit was prevalent in the earlier days , when the Sattra exponents expanded the given repertoire with their creative output and met the challenging demands of the margi tradition. This creative zeal continued even in the childhood days of our Adhyapak (Bayanacharya Ghanakanta Bora Muktiyar). But somehow, today, we have failed to retain its significance. While the youthful ventures of other states are agog with advanced activities of research and performative skills, our own generation here, have failed to imbibe our Gurus’ simplicity, elegance, humility and above all ,the spirit of devotion which entailed a continual flow of past in the present. Again apart from Nritya Parva, the annual Sattriya Dance festival organized by Sangeet Natak Akademi, there are no festivals to encourage the youngsters to undertake the field of performing arts seriously. Hence we see a regression in the contemporary scenario from the earlier state of perfection, with the youth failing to meet the demands of high performative skills, in comparison to other states. Let my speculation be regarded as a humble appeal, from one of the co-representatives of our generation, to come forward with a sense of responsibility to our living tradition and try to keep up the spirit of Bhakti. Let the contributions of the great saints and the Sattra maestros entrenched in the sacred precincts of the Naamghars be also highlighted in the proscenium with same intensity of spiritualism through Nritta, Nritya and Natya sequences. Let the contributions of doyens like Late Maniram Dutta Muktiyar, and others who worked to establish the art form in the secular arena of stage do not go waste.
Coming to our role in the festival, Anjana Baideo did a good job in rendering NavaDurga, a composition by Late Shri Pankaj Charan Das and received a good response from the audience. The fact that an Assamese danseuse was practicing the Orissan art form delighted the onlookers. I offered my recital as a Nrityanjali to Lord Jagannath. My presentation began with a verse from Oresa Barnan, a chapter from Sankaradeva’s magnum opus Kirtana Ghosa and concluded with Behar Nac, illustrating the Bargeet Ava Sakhi Pekho Madana Gopal, a composition by Shri Shri Madhavadeva. I wonder whether I could live up to my Adhyapak’s (Bayanacharya Shri Ghanakanta Bora Muktiyar) and audience’s expectations. But the inspiring words from the spectators at the end of my recital made me felt blessed and at the same time, humbled me at the thought of our ancestor’s grandiloquent compositions and choreographic skills together with my Adhyapak’s lessons. I owe to all of them.
The trip will always be a memorable experience in my life and whenever I revisit the tour in my imagination, it enlightens me with a new strength to undertake my art form with seriousness. Thus the trip was a pilgrimage for me and as in any other pilgrimage, my visit to the punyabhumi offered me unbounded joy.
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