Guru T.K. Kalyana-sundaram Pillai, director, Sri Rajarajeswari Bharatha Natya Kala Mandir, Mumbai, hailing from an illustrious lineage of artistes from Thanjavur who preserved and nurtured Bharatanatyam for more than 200 years. The sprightly 86-year old was naturally the cynosure of all eyes during his granddaughter Sruthi’s Bharatanatyam recital for Natyarangam in Chennai, as he conducted the programme with a well-modulated rendition of jatis and charming, conversational introductions. The only concession to his age was the chair by the wings.
Sruthi, disciple and granddaughter of the doyen, is blue blood alright as the eighth generation descendant of this family. While her composure and mastery over the pieces, the adavus and the expressions reflect the long association, her growing maturity as a performer makes her a dancer to watch out for. The nritta was absolutely riveting; the traditional jatis of this bani played with convention — in the trikala jathi for example, the speeds were reversed, and started with dhurita kala adavus, followed by madhyama and vilamba kala adavus, reversed again, and concluding with a 3-speed theermana adavu. Another, the jathi just before the mukthayi swara, was wholly made up of the theermana adavu, ‘kita thaka thari kita thom’ played out in different speeds and a different nadai for each speed.
In addition were the sollus, with lilting phrases such as ‘Thaa dhana dhana thaa jhonnu jhonnu thaa…’ and ‘Thadikku didikku dindin kuku thakuku tha thakunthari kitathaka...’ Guru Kalyanasundaram turned rhythm into melody with his firm yet serene delivery.
Notable adavus
Sruthi’s grace and agile sarukkal adavus that peppered the not-often-seen ‘Danike’ varnam (Thanjavur Quartet- Sivanandam, Todi, Rupaka) were notable. The padavarnam in which a courtesan’s longing for Maharaja Sivaji II is exemplified, is considered quite risqué since the lyric deals with human emotions and desires. Guru Kalyana- sundaram’s version was straightforward, with padartha abhinaya and simple illustrations. No controversy there.
The popular kriti on Udupi Krishna, ‘Krishna nee begane’ (Yamunakalyani, Misra Chapu, Vyasaraja) was however dealt with in detail. The poet paints a tender picture of a charming, adorned young child, and beseeches him to appear quickly. This is usually picturised with the mother, Yasoda, adorning her child and playing with him. In the last charana, the mood changes when the poet says, ‘You who revealed the whole universe in your mouth to your mother, you are the saviour of the world.’
The mother asks Krishna to open his mouth to spit out the sand, the anger turning to shock and wonder as she realises his true identity. While the traditional treatment shifts from mother to devotee after the Viswaroopa darshana, Guru Kalyasundaram’s visualisation continued focussing on the mother — motherly love, vatsalya bhava, turns into bhakti and she prostrates. With shaking hands, she applies a tilak on his forehead and carries him away gingerly. The role play requires mature abhinaya, and Sruthi proved herself capable with natural and sensitive expressions.
Tribute to saints
The recital opened with a tribute to Tyagaraja during his 250th birth anniversary in ‘Sri Ganapatinee sevimpa' (Saurashtra), which was followed by a tribute to Saint Ramanuja on his 1000th birth anniversary through an Andaal paasuram that he is identified with — ‘Unthu madakalitran’ (Mohanam).
The programme closed on a high with a Bageshri Thillana (Adi) on Raja Rajeshwari, composed in-house. Sruthi’s excellent timing and footwork made the tricky usi, off beats, and the nadai switches look easy. As an example of inspired visualisation, even the attami had ‘vishayam’ with different nadais — chatusra, tisra, khanda, etc.
Vidya Harikrishna was consistently melodious, but her best was the Yamuna Kalyani piece, where her voice and Kalaiarasan’s (violin) tunefulness melded in glorious harmony. G. Vijayarghavan (mridangam) provided the unerring foundation on which Guru Kalyanasundaram’s jati renditions sat beautifully and shone like gems.
