At the Madras Music Academy recently, the Sivamohanam School of Kuchipudi dance presented “Triyambaam”, an ode to the three goddesses of Hindu mythology—the Goddesses of knowledge, prosperity and energy. It was a group presentation comprising three different kinds of pieces choreographed by Jai Kishore Mosalikanti, a disciple of Vempati Chinna Satyam.

Traditional prayer in praise of Goddess Bala Tripura Sundari, the presiding deity of the Kuchipudi village was followed by Saraswati Stuti. This description in dance was in praise of Saraswati, the goddess who is as light complexioned as the moon dressed in milk white attire, and the one who sits on a white lotus holding a veena in her hands. She is all wisdom and knowledge. She is the dispeller of darkness which signifies ignorance. Her form shines in the minds of the sages and she is worshipped by all gods. This piece began with a Shlokam “yaakundenduthushaara hara dhavalam” in raagam Valaji and  Aarabhi. The next piece was a  krithi of  Muthuswami Dikshitar again in raagam Aarabi and Roopaka taalam. Sree Yudbhavam Kuchipudi has evolved as a Dance drama tradition, starting with kalapas, yakshaganas and nrithya naatikaas it has eventually developed as a solo repertoire though it continues to retain the dramatic elements in every possible way. Keeping in mind the traditions, Jai Kishore Mosalikanti has presented “Sree yudbhavam”  as a ‘vyastha nrithyamsam’ or a thematic presentation. In this piece, the Narrator along with the dancers entered the stage to depict the story of the birth of “Sri” or Laksmi the goddess of wealth. According to mythology, the gods and demons in search of amrutham (divine nectar), decided to churn the milk ocean by using the mandhara mountain as the churning stick and the great serpent vasuki as the rope. Lord Vishnu, helps them by taking the form of Kurma (or the turtle) to protect the mountain from sinking. As they began churning, they encountered a deadly poison haala hala. Lord Shiva consumes it and the churning continues, after the evolution of several celestial elements comes Goddess Lakshmi out of the ocean. With a mini “pathra pravesa daruvu” again a significant feature in Kuchipudi presentations, She introduces herself as the goddess of wealth, the daughter of Ksheera Sagara (the milk ocean), and the one who bestows wealth upon her devotees. She chooses lord Vishnu, among the other gods, to be her husband.

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This piece has been penned by late. Dr Pappu Venugopal Rao and the music has been scored by Kuldeep M Pai.

Durga Tarangam performance was unique. Tarangam plays a vital role in the Kuchipudi repertoire. It is a term given to the chapters in ‘Sri Krishna LeelaTarangini’ written by Shri Narayana Theertha. In this piece, the dancers exhibited all three aspects of dance – nritta: pure dance; nrithya: abhinaya and natya for the depiction of a story. The dancers stood on the rims of brass plates and performed complex rhythmic patterns. This piece was in praise of Goddess Durga, her creation, and the ultimate destruction of the buffalo-headed demon Mahishasura. The song described the beauty of the anklets adorning Durga’s lotus-like feet out of which the Saamaveda was born. ‘Jaya Jaya Durge’ was in Ragamalika, set to Adi talam, written by Saint Narayana Theertha, and the music was composed by  J. Ramesh and Jaikishore Mosalikanti.

Tillana in Ragam Brindavani set to Aadi Talam was the grand finale. It was an ode to the divine trinity of goddesses Durga, Lakshmi, and Saraswati. Written by Late. Dr. Pappu Venugopal Rao, and composed by Shri Ramesh Jetty, this Tillana celebrated the power of Shakti, prosperity and Vidya, or wisdom embodied by these celestial deities, weaving together rhythm, melody and devotion. The performers were JaiKishore Mosalikanti,  Padmavani Mosalikanti, Ala Venugopal, Abhinav Ashok, Vedya spurthi Konda, Lekshmi reghunath, Sathwika Reddy and Sammohana Mosalikanti. Aadith Narayan did the Nattuvanga. Vocalist  Sweta Prasad, mridangist B P Haribabu, flautist B Muthu Kumar and violinist Easwar Ramakrishnan were incredible.

Bharatanatyam exponent Vaibhav Arekar was a star performer at the festival. With a Master of Fine Arts degree in Bharatanatyam from the Nalanda Nritya Kala Mahavidyalaya he is today a name to reckon with. Sankhya Dance Company spearheaded by Vaibhav Arekar is involved with everything that concerns dance, especially Bharatanatyam. He is also deeply involved in finding ways to combine the classical with the contemporary. In the festival he wove a garland of traditional pieces, merging them with the unconventional without moving away from tradition.

Muthuswami Dikshitar’s Ananda Natanam merged into Jatiswaram seamlessly making the transition with the smooth entry and exit of disciples. Mohamana Varnam, ‘Priye Charusile, and Tillana came in one after the other unobtrusively with the audience going through aesthetic delight. Kaliswaran Pillai did the Nattuvangam, with Karthik Hebbar’s soulful singing.

Performers Vaibhav Arekar himself, accompanied by Eesha Pinglay, Shruti Menon, Shruti Ranade, Poorva Saraswat, Mrinal Joshi, Radhika Karandikar, Devayani Samant, Anu Christy and Gautam Marathe danced their way into the hearts of the audience.

Dakshinamurthy, Viswesh Swaminathan Jayaram Kikkeri Mridanaga Vadan, and violinist and flautist Jayaram Kikkeri gave the dancers excellent support.

The writer is a senior dance critic