The Yoga of Kathak: Srija receives a standing ovation

January 15, 2026

Nearly thirty kilometres from the city of Thiruvananthapuram (formerly Trivandrum) in the State of Kerala lies a renowned yoga centre, Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Dhanwanthari Ashram. Founded by Swami Vishnudevananda, one of the direct disciples of Swami Sivananda of Rishikesh, the ashram is currently headed by Yogacharya Natraj, originally from Italy, as its director. The ashram organizes a few Indian classical music and dance performances during the last week of the month of December every year. For the last nearly a decade, most of these programmes have been and continue to be hosted by the ashram in collaboration with Tarakeshwara Foundation of Visakhapatnam.

This year, on the request of the ashram, Tarakeshwara Foundation once again sent 15-year-old Kathak prodigy, Srija Biswas from Varanasi, for the two back-to-back presentations: a Kathak workshop and an hour-long Kathak solo, on 31st December 2025. Srija is the disciple of Guru Mata Prasad Mishra and his son Rudra Shankar Mishra of Benaras gharana. It was the 7th time that Srija had represented Tarakeshwara Foundation. She had earlier performed in Jammu, Visakhapatnam and Thrissur for the Foundation.

In line with the main activity of the ashram, Srija transformed her workshop into a session on the yoga of Kathak, leading the students to practise tatkar and hastak on the musical score of a Vandana in the background. She also did a small composition in teental, performing and explaining various routines. Around a score of participants, young and old alike, joyously and faithfully followed the instructions of their young, teenage mentor.

Later in the evening, Srija gave her major performance before the audience that included yoga students of the ashram from India and many other countries. She opened her performance with a Ganesh vandana – a must-do composition for any artiste albeit under unwritten protocol. It was followed by a Shiva stuti, another composition of the type that underscores abhinaya over nritta.

The centrepiece of the recital was a composition in teental. Srija performed on the stage with the ease and poise of a seasoned veteran. In perfect sync with the background musical track, Srija mesmerised the audience with her swirls and spins, her enchanting tatkars (footwork) and her copycat imitations of the sounds of nature. A series of dance routines known as aamad, upaj, tripalli, todas and ladis followed in that order. Upaj in Kathak is synonymous with khayal in Hindustani music and manodharma in Carnatic music where the dancer exhibits spontaneous, extempore improvisations, creating unique layakari and phrases, exploring the chosen taal with creativity and personal expression. In the normal course, upaj is performed on live music with the artiste engaging in real time dialogue with musicians, but here, Srija demonstrated her creative improvisations on a teentaal track in the background.

Again, going against the established Kathak tradition, Srija introduced another routine called aamad midway through her recital, using characteristic 'natwari' syllables, establishing the rhythm and setting the mood. Aamad is essentially a stylized way of taking an entry and it is normally done right in the beginning of the repertoire. It is a slow and steady, graceful, and lyrical salutation to the audience. With aamad, Srija virtually conquered the arena, so to say, the very goal of the routine.

Todas and ladis, the two rhythmic compositions of intricate tatkar and bols (syllables) set to teentaal, followed next in her teental presentation. Todas are designed to showcase technical skill and creativity of the artiste, typically ending in a spectacular fashion on the first beat of the taal, often with a chakkar. Ladis are often performed in drut laya. Exhibiting a few ladis, Srija went on to interweave the intricate layakari and bols in such a way that the audience could hardly distinguish the start and end of its paltas (variations).

Srija ended her performance with a composition, "Chado lagar" in taal Dadra, drawing a prolonged, thunderous applause from the audience. And, she deserved it all, for she had undertaken a 60-hour-long train journey along with her father, from Varanasi to Thiruvananthapuram to perform there. The return journey was as long but was filled with the fond memories of her new-found friendship with the ashram guests.