On the full moon night of Raas Purnima, Manipuri Nartanalaya led connoisseurs of dance to the Elysian Fields presenting the celestial dalliance of the boy Krishna with the young maidens or gopis of Vrindavan, signifying the union of the individual soul to the supernatural soul. Intoxicating music from Krishna’s flute brought them together under sylvan surroundings to indulge in Raas Leela.
‘Naman’ and ‘Krishna Katha’ , obeisance to Krishna and his ‘leelas’ or acts was held in the Open Air Stage of Deshapriya Park in Kolkata as a part of the year-long celebration in honour of legendary Manipuri Guru Bipin Singh, whose birth centenary falls this year. Nritya Yogi Guru Bipin Singh’s life’s mission was to enhance the beauty and richness of the temple-oriented Manipuri dance form and weave it into a rich tapestry, worthy of stage presentation. The full moon in the sky of Kartik Purnima with a soothing nip in the air created a perfect ambience for devotees to savour the collage of exquisite compositions of the guru.
Clad in different coloured phaneks and infafis (Manipuri costume), five celestial like dancers descended on the dancing space and paid their obeisance to Raseswar Krishna. Vocalist Kalavati Devi, who besides being a good dancer is also an accomplished vocalist, accompanied most of the presentations of the evening with her resonant vocal renditions. The song was followed by a four matra taal with the chanting of the beat “Nader dani dare dani...” suitably translated into dance by the performers.
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Krishna Nartan was by three dancers in ‘Natabar Besh’ It consisted of both the soft and forceful aspect of Manipuri dance. It was made up of an amalgamation of four beat, six beat and 14 beat rhythm system. Bir Mangal Singh’s pung (Manipuri mridangam) playing added charm to it. Kavi Jayadeva’s Dasavatar, showing the ten incarnation of Vishnu was another highlight. The use of Thang Ta movement showing Kalki Avatar was most effective. . The piece de resistance of the evening was “Ek Gopi Ek Shyam” in which each of devotees finds herself with Krishna, signifying unity of the atma and the paramatma. The evening culminated into Maharaas, at the end of which gopis prayed to Krishna and Radha and performed aarti, with offerings, lit lamps and fly-whisk fanning.
The second half of the evening had “Krishna Katha”, based on the life of Krishna. The performers, Noel, Baishali, Sudarshana, Tanisha, Payel, Parna, Mousam, Biplab, Sudeshna, Swayamprabha , Manomi Tanjana and Paromita, were all in good form Bimbavati Devi, their mentor and conductor, provided a blissful evening with her pure presentation.