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 Akka Mahadevi and Sandhey Nis Sandhey - Vijay Shanker e-mail: vijaydance@gmail.com May 14, 2025 AKKA MAHADEVI - A MYSTICAL EXPERIENCE The story of Akka Mahadevi, 12th century saint poetess, a feminist who scoffed at the established societal norms, was portrayed magnificently with the usage of prose, poetry, music, mime and dramatic outputs in the Bharatanatyam style by Dr Lata Surendra and disciples at the Experimental theatre of NCPA, Mumbai, on 6th March. The commendable dancer succeeded in taking the audience on a journey from realisation to renunciation in the span of forty-five minutes.  Lata Surendra The title Akka (elder sister) was accorded to Mahadevi by Lingayat saints like Basavanna, Siddharama and Allamaprabhu who belonged to the Veerashaiva sect. Akka Mahadevi was particularly credited for her 430 Vachanas (a form of spontaneous mystical poems). The performance commenced when Akka creates her own Shiva Linga. Her endless conversations with the stone lover for hours, isolates her from the real world, as the mystical poetess romances with her Lord and says, "I sought you in my dreams, for in my dreams, you have no end". After renouncing her marriage with King Kaushika, detaching herself from all the worldly attachments and allurements, the sky clad ascetic embarks on a spiritual odyssey. The master stroke of choreography sculpted the lingam in space from the elements unto the elemental, the 'Nirguna - Nirakara' etched in the linga. The poetess asks, "Should there be one husband in this world and another in the other world? Should there be one husband for worldly purpose and another for spiritual purpose? My husband is none other than Lord Chinnamalikarjuna". The Thodi Varnam evoking an image of individual points of consciousness playfully, naturally moving between the unmanifest and the manifest, between the interior and the exterior ended in the interpretation of the Vachana, "You are the forest, my beloved, You are all the great trees in the forest, You are bird and beast playing in and out of all the trees, O Lord, white as jasmine, why don't you show me your face?"  Lata Surendra and disciples The final union of light into light merges with the dance as Lata's disciples, Ananya Iyer, Megha Pillai and Lavanya Uchil, beautifully coordinating and whirling and gathering Akka into the merging stillness with the light cascading and shrouding the created Linga finally envelop in mystical ambience, recounting the eloquence of a mystic rebel's life journey from realisation and renunciation with the union of the Lord and says, "After oneness with the linga, I say nothing whatsoever". The mystical experience of the rebel was portrayed with the commendable vocal support by Shivaprasad in the pre-recorded music. Play of lights by Saurabh and Shridhar Devadiga added brilliance to the entire production. SANDHEY NIS SANDHEY - FROM THE DARKNESS OF DOUBT TO THE LIGHT OF FAITH Aayam Academy presented a thematic presentation in the Bharatanatyam style, 'Sandhey Nis Sandhey' (From the darkness of doubt to the light of faith) by Isha Aggarwal, disciple of Guru Sindhu Mishra on 27th April at Triveni Kala Sangam auditorium in New Delhi. Besides the rich thematic content, the performance was noteworthy for its clarity of movements and evocative expressions that created a lasting impression on the audience. The performance commenced with the beautiful Oothukadu Venkata Subbaiyyer's composition on Nartana Ganapati, as the elephant headed God danced merrily, a fine start with divine intervention that was well executed by the bright dancer, followed by a popular number of Swami Dayananda Saraswati, "Bho Shambho." The commendable vocalist Govindaraj Elangovan sang with complete devotional fervour that created an impact on the audience. Isha succeeded in interpreting the glory and the power of Lord Nataraja as the cosmic dancer with the incorporation of 'nritta karanas' and 'akash charis' which was the highlight of the performance.  Isha Aggarwal The Varnam was based on Tulsidas's 'Shri Ramcharitmanas' exploring the episode when Rama is searching for Sita. Herein Sati plays a trick and appears as Sita but Rama recognises her, portraying the doubt aspect of the scenario (sandhey). The saint poet takes the audience to another episode which was depicted in the Padam in which the family of Parvati warns her that Shiva is a mendicant who roams around seeking alms, attired in tiger skin, wearing a garland of skulls and a cobra encircling his neck. "How can you marry a person with such unconventional looks?" Parvati is aghast looking at him and runs away but eventually it is his bad aspect 'Dur gunas' that become his 'gunas' (qualities), hence the poet says that looks can be deceptive for Lord Shiva is "Bholenath" known for his compassion and kindness to his devotees. Prior to the performance of the Varnam, Guru Sindhu Mishra recited some verses from Shri Ramcharitmanas, explaining the process of the darkness of doubt to the light of faith which was accomplished with the union of Lord Shiva and Parvati. The performance concluded with Desh Thillana with stylized and intricate movements. Guru Sindhu Mishra selected these verses in order to project the plight and the emotions of Sati which is hardly portrayed, as Parvati is always picturised, hence themes that are out of the box draws more attention and appreciation and enhances the canvas of the themes portrayed. Isha Aggarwal received fine orchestral support with Guru Sindhu Mishra for nattuvangam and choreography, Elangovan for vocal rendering in Carnatic style and Nitin Sharma for rendering in the Hindustani music style, mridangam by Keshavan Ramamurthy, tabla by Sachin Sharma and flute by Raghuraman. On the whole, if Isha Aggarwal continues to dance with the same amount of zeal and passion, she can definitely aspire to be among the main ranks of dancers.  Vijay Shankar is a Kuchipudi and Kathakali exponent, teacher, bilingual journalist, arts critic and actor. |
