Dressed as Krishna for the dance, four-year old Padmaja asked after the performance: “How do you know that Krishna looked like this or dressed this way with a peacock feather? Did he really play the flute?” The family was amused by the cute question but had no answer, except that the pictures had it like that. “Years later, I realised that it is the way you imbibe the character and describe it.”
That is putting it simply, too simple perhaps, because the quest took Dr. Padmaja Suresh through labyrinths, which intertwined with a range of disciplines including occult, spiritualism and worship. It was about this search and her findings that she spoke at the C.P. Art Centre, Chennai, under the title, ‘Yantra, Mantra, Tantra and Natya,’ recently.
A disciple of Guru Kalyanasundaram Pillai, Dr. Padmaja trained in Bharatanatyam Margam, mastering the repertoire, which she presented across the country. “But I was nagged by this doubt: Is this all in Dance or am I missing something? I wanted to explore and my guru blessed me to do what my instinct told me,” she said tracing the beginning.
The lecture and the conversation later could be likened to a stream of consciousness in full flow. The thoughts seamlessly move from one dimension to another at the end of which lies an intricate network of music, dance, metaphysics and Vedanta. The core, however, is the individual’s experience — one of joy and peace.
“I thought that a Master’s degree in Philosophy would give help get answers and went on to complete an advanced course. When it was time to think of research, my father Chakyarkoothu Rajan sprang a surprise by suggesting that I choose Tantra sastra,” recalls Dr. Padmaja. A Bhagavatam expert, he wanted his daughter to meditate on Devi. “Easier said,” laughs Dr. Padmaja. “I didn’t know how I was going to get guidance. My father passed away leaving me in a vacuum. But support came from unexpected quarters,” she adds. Books arrived and phone calls led her to persons, who helped her find the pieces to the jigsaw puzzle.
Thus began her journey in the fascinating world of metaphysics and tantra. “Tantra, here, is not what generally is assumed to be black magic. It is white magic, the light that illuminates, not the one that blinds,” she explains.
Bharata’s Natya Sastra defines Natya as the fifth Veda and is open to all without barriers.
Abhinava Gupta, said to be the best commentator on Natya Sastra, was a Tantric Yoga. From karanas to mudras, Natya, according to Dr. Padmaja, is the performer’s communion with the Universe. Mudras are common for both Natya and Tantra but practice is different. While in Tantra the mudras should be secret, in Natya it is public.
Sri Chakra is pivotal to the narrative and so is Nataraja. The mystical diagram, a matrix of triangles with a point at the centre, stands for the unity of Siva and Sakti, the dot (bindu) representing singularity. If Siva is Nada, Sakti is Energy and together they create life. The Siva-Sakti dance stands for Sat-Chit-Ananda (existence-cosnciousness-bliss). Chidambaram Nataraja is said to represent the Nadanta posture. Dr. Padmaja uses phrases from Soundarya Lahari and Lalitha Sahasranamam to underline the concepts.
Same wavelength
Does she present Margam without the mystic undertone? “Of course,” says Dr. Padmaja, who travels widely and conducts workshops for under-privileged children.
“However, to me, natya is a manifestation of inner consciousness. The vibrations are sure to reach those that are in the same wavelength. Because ultimately it is the union of Siva and Sakti with the dancer becoming the dance. Listen to the sounds within you, your heart and the connect with the Universe will happen,” she asserts.
One could get a feel of it during the lecture during the 20-minute dance presentation, which included the Ardanriswara Ashtakam, a hymn from Soundarya Lahari and the dance of Kali. The final emotion was tranquility as the frenzied movements gradually subsided to reach that sublime emotion — Santam.
