I walk into the east gopuram of the Chidambaram temple and am welcomed by the 108 karanas on the panels of the gopuram. I walk past admiring the beauty as my eyes catch the statue of Shiva with Pathanjali and Vyagrapada. As if this wonder was not enough, I see the Shivaganga with crystal clear water. Is it a dream?? I shake myself and realize that this was the visual imagery brought on by Dr. Chitra Madhavan's eloquent and lucid narrative of the Chidambaram temple. Varied mythological, historical and architectural facts were brought to light by Dr. Madhavan's exquisite lecture.
Ramya Ramnarayan
Following this was a performance by Ramya Ramnarayan who was also the curator of this series 'Musical Temples and Dancing Sculptures.' A lot can be said about Ramya's training and experience. Having trained under illustrious gurus, her technique had angashudha and clean lines. The intelligent choreography for the Dikshitar's krithi, "Ananda natana prakasam" in ragam Kedaram had the right amount of spice to make the number interesting. Ramya started off with a sloka describing Tillai in all its glory. Her eyes caught on the sthayi as she entered the stage, but it would have been visually more appealing to have started in the centre with the camera zooming in. In the sloka the wordspathanjali priyamu had a shade of shringaram which deviated from the bhakti. The pose held at the end of the shloka was a good transition to the krithi, if the tapping of the toes to keep thalam could have been avoided. "Ananda natana prakasam," a tried and tested number, took a new avatar with Ramya's creativity. The beautifully held poses and geometrical movements brought the image of Shiva dancing at
Chidambaram.
Ramya's feel for the natyam came out clearly with each passing line. She was weaving a garland of movement with ease and precision which comes only with deep understanding of not only the krithi but also natyam in its entirety. Ramya's experience in choreographing traditional and fusion music had a great impact in her presentation. The lighting and camera play a huge role in online platforms. The camera shift revealing the top lights and zoom-in at inappropriate moments was an irritant in the otherwise beautiful presentation. Virtual platform poses challenges to the dancers, but once we learn it, wonders can be created. The following panel discussion was again an eye opener with so many details of the temple and the journey of the artiste. Chidambaram is every dancer's delight and this program gave the satisfaction and wholeness of visiting Chidambaram.
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