Amritanjali Festival of Classical Dance

January 20, 2026

Amritanjali School of Bharatanatyam celebrated 25 years of establishment in Pune and hosted a grand celebration with Amritanjali Festival of Classical Dance, which was held on 5th October at Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Hall, Camp, Pune. Dr. Shashikala Ravi heads the Amritanjali School as the Founder Director. The festival saw another benchmark this year, with a book release by Dr. Shashikala Ravi (authored by her), titled 'UNLOCKING COSMIC POWER through Bharatanatyam: DANCE • ENERGY • ŚIVA • ŚIVALIṄGA'

UNLOCKING COSMIC POWER through Bharatanatyam book release

Book release by Shashikala Ravi in the presence of Guru Shama Bhate, Dr. Sucheta Bhide Chapekar, and Dr. Nandakishore Kapote

The book release took place in the presence of Gurus Dr. Sucheta Bhide Chapekar, Shama Bhate and Dr. Nandkishore Kapote. During the book release, first Guru Suvarna Bag conducted an interview with Dr. Ravi regarding the book. Shashikala Ravi talked about what led her to write a book with such an interesting and unusual title. She spoke about her research opportunities which led her to connect her dance Bharatanatyam with the cosmic energy who is the Cosmic Shiva. After her stimulating and inspiring talk, the book release took place by the three renowned Guests of Honour.

UNLOCKING COSMIC POWER through Bharatanatyam

The book authored by Dr. Shashikala Ravi

The book is a visually captivating and a deeply researched work exploring the relationship between Bharatanaṭyam, Cosmic energy, Cosmic Shiva and temple architecture. Through more than 180 colour photographs, 'Unlocking Cosmic Power through Bharatanāṭyam' reveals how classical dance postures, ancient temples and sculptures embody the energy of the cosmos and the divine dance of Lord Shiva as Nataraja. Along with a personal journey and insight into Bharatanaṭyam, the book connects the temple iconography, Karanas and the metaphysical concept of Shivalinga as manifestations of the spiritual power. It bridges scholarly insight and artistic vision, offering dancers, researchers, and connoisseurs a new way to experience divine energy through movement and sacred form. It is a 330 pages, premium book, authored and published by Dr. Shashikala Ravi, design and layout by Parag Pimpale (Bookmark publications), printed at Shripad Printers, Pune.

Parshwanath Upadhye

The book release ceremony was followed by 3 spellbinding classical dance performances. The first one was by the popular Bharatanatyam artiste Parshwanath Upadhye from Bengaluru who had come with his own team of excellent musicians -Srikanth Gopalakrishnan on vocal, Aditya PV on nattuvangam, Vidya Shankar on mridangam, Vishvesh Swaminathan on violin and Hariprasad on flute. He began with a Varnam "Aadi Sivane kaanave aasai kondenadi" in ragam Todi, set to adi talam, a composition of Dandayudapani Pillai. With complex jathis and elaborate abhinaya, it was a superb presentation by Parshwanath. This was followed by a very interesting Javali "Aaluraavaku samayamudi", lyrics by Jagadeesha Sukumar. The Nayaka is trying to enjoy his moments with the "other woman" when his wife is away at her mother's place for four days. But when she returns within two days, the events that follow was brought out with expertise and a very humorous touch by Parshwanath. His depiction of the Nayaka's plight brought out a lot of enjoyable applause from the audience.

Dr. Shashikala Ravi

The second performance was by Dr. Shashikala Ravi, based on her research work and book. First, she explored the Cosmic dance of Shiva, the Sandhya Tandavam, performed during the twilight hours or Pradosha Kaalam in his abode Kailasa, which was set in ragam Hamsanandi to Tisra Ekam. A beautiful choreography and presentation of the dance of preservation. This was followed by a 7th century Tevaram 'Kootruvan kaan, Kootruvanai kumaiththa kon kaan' in which, Nayanmar Appar sings the glory of Ekambareshvarar of Kanchi, who has manifested as the five elements or Panchabhutas. Dr. Ravi's depiction of Shiva as the five elements was vibrant, full of abhinaya and touching. This was set in Ragamalika. Her final presentation was a choreographic piece again in Ragamaalika set to adi talam bringing out the manifestation of Cosmic Shiva as the Jyotirlinga on earth. This was a very gripping and powerful presentation of how Lord Shiva proved his supremacy to Vishnu and Brahma by appearing as an infinite column of light, which couldn't be fathomed by either of them. Dr. Ravi was well supported by Sivaprasad NN - vocal, S. Shankaranarayanan - mridangam, Dr. Karthika Prasad - nattuvangam, B. Anantharaman - violin, Bharat Raj - flute. The music to all the dance pieces was set by Sivaprasad NN.

Guru Maneesha Sathe

The last performance of the evening was by Guru Maneesha Sathe, a renowned, veteran Kathak exponent from Pune. She made an immediate rapport with the audience and interacted with them beautifully all through. She began with a Ganesha Vandana composed by Ajay Parad, in raag Yaman, taal Matta, a 9 beat rhythmic cycle. This was followed by a presentation of Tri taal in different speeds or laya. The next presentation 'Ek haath ki Padanth' was superb and enjoyable where Maneesha Sathe and the tabla artiste Nikhil Phatak, both used only the right hand to perform and play, respectively. Then, Maneesha Sathe presented a beautiful Lamjhad Kavit, with thematic lyrics written by tabla maestro Kishan Maharaj describing Raas Lila of Gopikas and Krishna on Sharad Purnima night. The highlight of the performance was the abhinaya piece Jatayu Moksha where the episode of Ramayana starting in Panchavati with Surpanakha episode leading to the abduction of Sita Devi by Ravana who is stopped by Jatayu. Jatayu's wings are chopped off by Ravana and finally Jatayu gets Moksha when Shri Ram arrives in search of Sita. Maneesha Sathe's presentation was full of energy and spoke of years of experience. She excelled in abhinaya in Jatayu Moksha. She was accompanied by a team of excellent musicians, Nikhil Phatak- tabla, Rajiv Tambe - harmonium, Sunil Avachat - flute, Parimal Kolhatkar - vocal, Vallarie Apte - padhant.

All in all, it was a beautiful evening for dance lovers in Pune. A big thanks to Dr. Shashikala Ravi for bringing together such accomplished artistes, and a whole gamut of excellent accompanying artistes, and giving each, an hour to perform and enthral the audience. Dr. Shashikala Ravi has been hosting Amritanjali Festival since 2012 in Pune and has brought to Pune audience several renowned artistes for performances and workshops and has also provided platforms to several promising young classical dance artistes.