Almost all of India’s cultural inheritance, since Vedic era, believes that performing arts transform not only the artistes but also its viewers. It is one of the reasons why there is no indication that the art was ever intended to please or entertain the listener. It was something more which traversed from aachaar (practice of rituals), vichaar (analysis of the practice) to jnaan (wisdom); and finally led to vijnaan (supreme knowledge).
Folk music had been close to nature; more so because the Indian sub-continent always enjoyed abundant riches showered by Mother Nature and held her in awe. Prayers were composed. Melody and rhythm inspired body movement (dance) and they became an integral part of all rituals. And from there Indian mythology, rich in its content, derived its nourishing sap of sustenance and gave it a form of Naatya (drama). Since all led to salvation, Bharatamuni in his Naatyashastra (200 BC) termed this art-form as Maarga (path).
As such, Sangeet Ashram usually organises classical music events only; but “Maarga Naatya”, as an awe-inspiring opening session of its recent presentation at a jam-packed GD Birla Sabhagar came as a pleasant surprise to the elitist crowd who were led to spirituality, the root cause of music and an integral part of dance and drama. The member-students of Chidakash Kalalay (Centre of Art and Divinity) under the guidance of renowned Naatyashastra scholar and Guru Piyal Bhattacharya captivated all with its edifying spirituality. Bhattacharya’s brilliant track record shows that he has not spared a single effort to work towards his ambitious goal of trying to reconstruct the ancient form of drama, as prescribed in the Naatyashastra by Bharatmuni.
Ethereal ambience
This was an era when rituals reigned supreme. As a precursor “Chitra Poorva-Ranga”, an amalgamation of ritualistic dance and music was presented in which mantra is the song and dancer’s body, through which it is expressed and comes to life, becomes the naivedya (offering) to the ultimate consciousness behind this creation. The accompanying musicians were seated behind a veil. Powerful sound of conch shells announced the beginning, followed by steady, long, repetitive swaras that emanated from behind the veil. This had a meditative quality and created an ethereal ambience. The kutapa-vinyas (formation of orchestra) included Tri-Pushkara (Urdhaka, Ankika and Alingya played by Mithun Chakraborty, Joy Dalal and Piyal Bhattacharya) or triadic percussion as mentioned in Naatyashastra, Vamshi (flute played by Paramananda Roy) and veenas (Mattakokila and Kacchhapi played by Shubhendu Ghosh and Abhijit Ray). The ritualistic music consisted of several vidhis or methods along with Nirgeet having Shushkakshara (meaningless syllables a la tarana).
Next, “Aasaarita-Vardhamana Vidhi”, exhibited through the gyrating bodies of four female dancers, who entered one by one, represented the cosmic dance during manifestation. The accentuated tribhanga signified the imbalance of tri-guna (Sata-Raja-Tama), the cause of creation. Different pindis (formations) were expressed through gyrating movements with vigorous spiralling waist (Kati) movements — symbolising rajo-guna (potent dynamic forces for procreation). These represented the first pulse or Jagat Karana (creation) with tala representing expansions (vardhamana vidhi) of pulsations.
In his earlier presentations, Bhattacharya had composed this in Vikrita forms of Shaadaji Jati. But now the entire Vidhi, replete with kutapa-vinyas and tala pattern, has been newly re-composed in the Shuddha Shaadaji Jati. Structured in typical Naatyashastra-ic tala pattern and strung with the Sahitya given by Bharatmuni in Naatyashastra, this new composition displays a complete meditative Bhavabhinaya following a typical system of repetition, known as “Dasha Parivarta” where all the four consecutive sections of AasaaritaVardhamana Vidhi percolates in a typical fashion starting from fast tempo and gradually turning to slower tempo. This constitutes the causal unfolding of a new universe on stage, whereas the natya demarcates the gradual conglomeration of rasa, from subtle to gross.
Dancers, led by Akash Mallick, Pinki Mondal, Deep Ghosh, Shreetama Chowdhury and Manjira Dey, were grace personified. The latter also sang while Rinki Mondal did multitasking as taal-dhaarika, dancer and actor. Designers Chhandak Jana (costumes), Soumen Chakraborty (light) and Kneel (set) actually created a time machine that transported everyone to Bharatmuni’s era.
This was followed by a newly restructured Upa-rupaka (musical feature) “Bhaanak”, having music, dance and spoken dialogues as its three components. Anukirtana (recounting) of the tattva (reality) is the core of this Upa-rupaka, a prescribed by Bharatamuni and later established by Acharya Abhinavagupta.
They say, Naatya must manifest a new world on stage, taking materials from this world, and transform or transcend them to re-tell the heavenly, glorious saga of the emergence of our cosmos. Naatya must re-tell the wisdom embedded within it.
Blissful realisation
The Sutradhara of “Bhaanak”, an omniscient entity, resides beyond segregated cognition or any gender identity. He speaks and gives ‘udanta’ – teaching the audience, sharing with them the most intriguing gnosis of this cosmos. He speaks of the genesis of Svara (sound), Varna (colours), Shareera (body), and through them, he unfolds, how one may embark on the winding journey of liberation and ultimate blissful realisation of Self through Sapta Kapaalgeetis.
Abanti Bhattacharya
These Geetis form the seven knots within “Bhaanak” to demarcate seven energy centres (Sapta Chakra) of our body as well as seven cosmic planes of this universe (Sapta Loka). He is a Shaiva-ite, follower of a path which teaches us to question each mundane norm at every single step to cut through the veil of Ajnana (ignorance), in order to reach Prajnana (sublime wisdom). For this, he inquires and finds the real meaning and relevance of shastra (scriptures), parampara (traditions) and even the relevance of metaphysical Vijnana (science) of music and dance in today’s world.
Actor-singer-dancer-veena-player Sayak Mitra’s superb portrayal of “Bhaanak” infused life in this enlightening script written by Dr. Rakesh Das, Assistant Professor of Sanskrit, Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda University, Belur.
The second half of the evening saw Abanti Bhattacharya, the Girija Devi Puraskar (Sarvottam category) recipient, offering enchanting thumris and thrilling tappa superbly supported by Aurobinda Bhattacharya and Allarakha Kalawant on tabla and sarangi respectively.
