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 Guravey Sharanam - Priyamvada Murali e-mail: priyamvadhamurali24@gmail.com December 6, 2024 The last quarter of every year, one looks forward to the annual Aatmalaya's award festival that aims to propagate art in varied forms for inner sanctity, universal oneness, mutual support and fostering Dharma. Committed to this underlying principle, Dr Padmaja Suresh, the director of this "holistic" institution adheres to the roots of our culture and traditions by inviting artistes from our Bhaarat. Senior unsung heroes are recognized through awards, those who have contributed to the cause of our art forms, relentlessly for a lifetime. There have also been instances where artistes have hailed from rural areas of our country. The festivals, apart from honouring deserving practitioners, are also thematic with dance presentations as befitting tribute based on illustrious personalities who have been a precious jewel in the socio-cultural historic treasures of India. "Wings of fire", "Nivedita" and "Sarojini" based on the life and times of Dr Abdul Kalam, Sister Nivedita and Sarojini Naidu respectively have been some of the productions. This year, aspirant rasikas braved the torrential rain, mighty winds, and inundating waterlogs on an overcast November 30th evening to reach Swami Haridoss Giri mini hall, Narada Gana Sabha, Chennai, and witness "Guravey Sharanam". It was the chosen title for this year's festival, based on the latest book authored by Dr Padmaja Suresh, 'The Dance of Tantra and a Satguru'. It was a wholesome effort to have honoured four very senior Gurus representing Agamic ritualistic practices, Vedic studies, Natyam and Sangeetham, followed by Talam and Vaadhyam. The Chief Justice of Madras High Court, Shri K R Shriram , a connoisseur of art and advocating our rich culture and tradition, honoured the unsung heroes with due respect. Harishankar, Secretary, Narada Gana Sabha, acknowledged the contributions of these hidden gems apart from overwhelmingly supporting this noble endeavour of Aatmalaya.  Chakyar Rajan Memorial Award  Dr Rajaram Shastri Award The foremost of the awards, Chakyar Rajan Memorial Award was conferred upon Krishna Kurup hailing from Ambalavasi Community, who fervently does Nitya Pooja Koothu at Kochi temples in spite of old age and limitations. Dr Rajaram Shastri Award went to Dr Krishnamurthy Shastrigal, an erudite par excellence in Vedas and Sanskritam doing yeoman service to the cause of this Dharma apart from running a Gurukulam though wheel chair bound.  Guru Melattur Sri S Natarajan Memorial Award  Aatmalaya Special Award Guru Melattur Sri S Natarajan Memorial Award was given to vidwan Jayaraman Ganesan for his contributions to music and dance. This versatile artiste has composed and choreographed several Tamil compositions and also teaches even at the age of 87 but barely making ends meet with limited income. The Aatmalaya Special Award was given to Thanjavur V Padma, who has accompanied many musicians as percussionist since her young age and is one of the very few thriving lady mridangists. "Guravey Sharanam" showcased dance performances featuring four spiritual giants discussed vividly in the book, 'The dance of Tantra and a Satguru,' namely Kanchi Mahaswami, Ramana Maharshi, Saibaba and Ramakrishna Paramahamsa.  Darshan Shankar  Shantala Natyalaya Darshan Shankar performed on Satya Saibaba and his compassionate life. Shantala Natyalaya presented the life and teachings of Ramakrishna of love and universal unity. Aatmalaya team led by Dr Padmaja Suresh and her senior disciples, extolled the Karma Marg of Kanchi Mahaswami and Jagadguru Adi Shankara's Viveka Choodamani showing the path of Mukti or liberation. The Ramana Maharshi Centre of Learning touched upon the silent gaze pointing at WHO AM I for inner realisation.  Aatmalaya Academy Each of these performances brought to life the impactful teachings of the Satguru and its lasting effect on not just their followers but to all sahrudayas assembled too. The insightful Sanskrit correlation for every rendition brought out vividly by the compere of the day, Sruthi Bhuvaneshwari, kept the onlookers connecting innately to the theme. शास्त्रस्य गुरुवाक्यस्य सत्यबुद्ध्यवधारणम् । सा श्रद्धा कथिता सद्भिर्यया वस्तूपलभ्यते ॥ २५ ॥ śāstrasya guruvākyasya satyabuddhyavadhāraṇam | sā śraddhā kathitā sadbhiryayā vastūpalabhyate || 25 || ... says Adi Shankaracharya's Viveka Choodamani. To follow the scriptures and Guru Vakya with Shraddha helps us to perceive realities. "Reality was sure perceived" as Sarvesh Venkatesh concluded the evening with "I saw God today..." a soulful gripping rendition in English. The ninth edition of Aatmalaya academy annual awards ceremony was truly a celebration of the "Guru Maargam." The performances reflected the pages of the book, 'The Dance of Tantra and a Satguru.' The iconic Gurus on whose name the awards were bestowed lived for a higher purpose in life through their art. The dedicated awards instilled the need to seek inspiration from the "undiminishing zeal" of these deserving awardees / Gurus, to strive selflessly for arts' sake. One could experience bliss through their eyes. "Thelivu Guru uru Sindhipal dhaane..." said Saint Thirumoolar. Surrendering to this intellect until the next edition... Satguravey Sharanam!  Priyamvadha Murali is the daughter/disciple of Bhagavata Mela exponent Guru Melattur Late S Natarajan and senior disciple of Guru Chitra Visweswaran. Based in Bangalore, she currently is the director of the Bhagavata Mela Vidyalaya at Melattur, a brainchild of Guru S Natarajan. bhagavatamelavidyalaya.org |
