Never a dull moment as good and evil took centre stage
Mohanapriyan Thavarajah: A masterful performance. Pix by Indika Handuwala
It was a soul-stirring Bharatanatyam programme performed solo by a male artiste that took the audience at the Lionel Wendt in Colombo by storm on Wednesday, April 6. The production was by Apsaras Arts, the premier Indian dance company in Singapore, a recipient of the Singapore National Arts Council’s annual major grant scheme.
Apsaras was founded in 1977 by Neila Sathyalingam and her husband, both from Sri Lanka and continues its phenomenal growth as a professional performing company of Bharatanatyam dance, having toured more than 40 countries across the globe under the leadership of Aravinth Kumarasamy – also from Sri Lanka – blending innovative themes and choreography based on the traditional dance idiom.
‘Parama Padam’ presented at the Lionel Wendt theatre was conceived by their resident choreographer and principal dancer, Mohanapriyan Thavarajah, a Sri Lanka-born artiste recognized as one of the world’s most accomplished young male dancers of bharatanatyam. While male dancers are few even in India as their bastion has been ‘Nattuvangam’ until the advent of Kalakshetra, and those who have risen to fame such as V. P. Dhananjayan and C. V. Chandrasekhar are older, Mohanapriyan is exploring new areas so far unknown to the art through expressive choreography.
It is this thirst for adventure that led him to draw inspiration from the game ‘Parama Padam’ originated by the followers of the ‘Vaishnavite’ faith in India in the 10th century C.E. during the rule of ‘Pandiya’ and ‘Pallava’ kings. It was created for the purpose of teaching moral values of human life with a game board of a hundred squares illustrated by snakes and ladders. The ladders represent good values or virtues and the snakes bad deeds or vices. In the passage of life while the ladders uplift a soul to attain ‘Vaikuntha’ referred to as ‘Nirvana’ in Buddhist philosophy, snakes would pull it down to untoward depths such as rebirths. The ultimate goal of human life is attainment – the entry into ‘Vaikuntha’. ‘Parama Padam’ was turned into ‘Snakes and Ladders’, a simple and enjoyable game for children by the British when they occupied India.
The spiritual ethos of the game as structured and played by the Vaishnavites of ancient India inspired Mohanapriyan to revive it using the rich vocabulary of Bharatanatyam. It caught his attention when he saw a curtain bearing a hundred squares with snakes and ladders drawn on it at the Sri Ranganathan temple in Trichy and was told that it was a game played by Vaishanava families during the Vaikuntha Ekathasi festival in December, meant to keep them awake and alert as they made their ritual journey in quest of Vaikuntha.
It was a performance of 60 minutes without intermission, in three acts: the first elucidated the six zones that have to be traversed to reach the seventh which is ‘Vaikuntha’, the second depicted the soul’s journey through them climbing up ladders and being pulled down by snakes, and the third, a meeting with Chitragupta, the custodian of the good and bad of every soul, who highlights the successful journey to Vaikuntha of Tyagaraja, Periyalvar, Tukaran, Ravana and Meera. They were all splendidly projected through phenomenal ‘Sathvikaa Abhinaya’ and superbly executed body movements. Using lyrics for only brief introductions and with a short narration in English between acts, Mohanapriyan kept the audience spellbound throughout with expressive music and meaningful ‘Sotkattu’ as ‘Thirikala Jathi’ wherever appropriate.
There was never a dull moment or a lacuna seen even though he performed solo as he filled the stage with his enthralling movements. Suggestive lighting and projection of symbolic images enhanced the production. The epilogue was stunning.
The effortless abrupt opening of the first six doors leading to ‘Vaikuntha’ with a single hand, and the effort exercised in opening the seventh using both hands resulting in a sudden gush of dazzling light and ringing bells made my heart miss a beat. I left the hall filled not only with the contentment of having witnessed a memorable Bharatanatyam programme but also with pride that Sri Lankans are making indelible footprints in this field.
(The reviewer is Founder, Principal, ‘Nirmalanjali’ Academy of Bharatanatyam)
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