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 An evening of Manipuri dance - Tapati Chowdhurie e-mail: tapatichow@yahoo.co.in May 6, 2025 Sruti Performing Arts presented an evening of Manipuri dance recently at Shishir Manch, Kolkata. Commencing with Mangalacharan, Sruti Performing Troupe dancers hailed Krishna and Radha and sought blessings from them for a dance composition of Guru Bipin Singh, sung by Atashi Chatterjee to the mesmerizing Pung accompaniment of Birmangal Singh. Radha Nartan by Iliya Das Mukherjee followed soon after. It was a composition in the lasya style of Manipuri by Guru Bipin Singh. The opening song in Sanskrit described Radha as Jagamanamohini and her sublime beauty. Her movements captivate the world, and her adornments shine and glitter. She is seen surrounded by bees, epitomizing her soft and sweet beauty, resembling a flower pregnant with honey. Her long hair sways like a snake. Radha walks like a khanjana bird to reach the bower. Iliya was able to showcase the delicate, sweet nature of Radha in the subtle beauty of Manipuri dance.  Sudip Ghosh Sudip Ghosh, who has emerged as a proficient dancer, took up an ashtapadi from poet Jayadeva's Geeta Govind. He expressed through the movements of the body and graceful hand gestures, Krishna's love dalliance with Chandravali. The verse, "Hari riha mugdha badhu nikarey vilasini vilasati keli...." was meaningfully translated into the vocabulary of Manipuri. The original composition of the dance was by Guru Maisnam Amubi Singh, re-choreographed by Guru Babu Singh.  Sakhya Prem Artistic Director Sruti Bandopadhay's ensemble presented 'Sakhya Prem' about the childhood pranks of Lord Krishna, in Manipuri style. Inspired by the 'Udukhal' Rasa and the 'Shanshenba' of Manipur, the dance drama consisted of three scenes. The first scene depicted the much enacted 'Nanichuri' - stealing of butter - of Krishna, Balaram, and their friends. The second scene shifted to Nandalaya, the home of Yasoda and Nanda, Krishna's foster parents. Krishna's cowherd friends request Yasoda to allow Krishna and Balaram to join them to go to the meadows for grazing cows. Though initially reluctant, Yasoda gives her consent to accompany them. The final and third scene sees Krishna and his friends playing with the ball while grazing the cows. The falling of the ball in Yamuna, where the venomous snake Kaliya lived, and Krishna's subsequent encounter with Kaliya and subjugating him in a breathtaking scene enacted by Somabha Bandopadhay, Anwesha Bagchi, Amrita Ghosh, Kasturi Hazra, Shreya Mahata, Samapti Chatterjee, Rajlakshmi Ghosh, Mallika Ghose, and Ratri Manik kept the audience enraptured. Dr. Sruti Bandopadhay's choreography, supported by Dr. Thoiba Singh's music direction, was captivating.   Bhaktirasasudhasara is unique to Manipuri dance. In Indian aesthetics there are nine rasas, while the Vaishnavite tradition of Eastern India has five rasas: shanta, dasya, sakhya, vatsalya, and madhura. All these rasas are basically variations of Sringara rasa according to the Vaishnavism of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. The performers presented Bhaktirasasudhasara in the traditional Manipuri dance style. The performers Anwesha Bagchi, Samapti Chatterjee, Ratri Manik, Amrita Ghosh, Rajlakshmi Ghosh, Mallika Ghosh, Manjusha Manna, Somabha Bandopadhay, Namrata Das, and Amita Paul displayed these five rasas and evoked bhakti. The dance choreography, the music direction, and the narration of Sruti Bandopadhay, Tarit Bhattacharya and Prof. Pabitra Sarkar, mesmerized the rasikas.  Sinam Basu Singh Shiva Panchakshara Stotram by Dr. Sinam Basu Singh broke new ground. Manipuri dance, being a product of the Vaishnavite Movement as propagated by the Bhakti saint, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, usually features dances on the themes of the incarnations of Vishnu. Basu Sinam showed the way that the vocabulary of Manipuri dance could be used to dance on Shaivite themes as well. Shiva Panchakshara Stotram by Adi Shankaracharya was a tandava dance composition, expressed through Manipuri dance. Here, the meaning of each letter of the Panchakshara mantra, i.e., "na mah shi va ya," was explained. The dance began with the verse "Nagendraharaya Trilochanaya Bhasmangaragaya Maheshvaraya.... Namah Shivaya...." Here various facets of the art form were showcased to its fullest. The evening of Manipuri dance sprang many surprises to the delight of the audience.  Tapati Chowdhurie trained under Guru Gopinath in Madras and was briefly with International Centre for Kathakali in New Delhi. Presently, she is a freelance writer on the performing arts. She is the author of 'Guru Gopinath: The Making of a Legend.' |
