The 78th edition of the Bhagavata Mela Nataka Mahotsav-2018 was a ten-day festival featuring music and dance recitals presented by artistes from around the country, besides the customary Vedic rituals, Namasankeertana programmes and Bhagavata Mela natakas. On day seven, a thrilling combination of music and rhythm in ‘Laya Raaga Samarpanam’ was presented by Sthree Thaal Tharang (concept and direction, Sukkanya Ramgopal) featuring Sukkanya the ghatam and konnakkol artist, along with J. Yogavandana, Sowmya Ramachandran, Lakshmi Pillai and Bagyalakshmi M. Krishna, from Bangalore. This was followed by ‘Bhama Kalaapam’ by Guru Kalakrishna in stree vesham.
‘Bhama’ was in the Andhra Natyam style, the lasya tradition of Telugu-speaking areas of Telengana, Rayalaseema and Andhra. Two mutually exclusive dance traditions existed in these areas — the Natya Mela tradition in which only men took part such as Kuchipudi Bhagavatham, Thoorpu Bhagavatham, etc., and the Nattuva Mela tradition in which only women performed in temple rituals such as the Kumbhaharathi, Pushpanjali, Ashtadikpalakas aaradhana, etc, in the courts with padams, javalis, swara pallavis, padavarnams etc and Prabhanda Nritya performed outside temples with a repertoire of Kalaapams. The women performed solo unlike the male drama tradition, and were referred to by different names according to where they performed: in temples they were known as Devanarthaki or Gudisanis, in courts as Rajanarthakis and outside temples as Ganikas.
There is enough historical evidence to confirm their existence. Kalakrishna quotes famous historian B.N. Sastry whose research on temple inscriptions reveals that there are many Sila Sasanams — stone inscriptions — which refer to Deva Ganikas and Raja Narthakis with much reverence. According to the guru, in the Mukhalingeshwara temple, Srikakulam district, known for dance worship, the Akhanda Deeparadhana ritual was performed by Deva Ganikas as per inscriptions dating back to the 8th century. There is sculptural evidence as well in old temples such as the Ahobilam Narasimha temple, Srisailam, where there is a sculpture of a richly ornamented dancer with a Vaishnava namam offering pushpanjali. Ancient Telugu literary works such as the 13th century Basavapuranam and Srimadaandhra Mahabharatam (Thikanna), etc., detail dances prevalent then.
The dance tradition of the Telugu ganikas, who were highly regarded for their piety and knowledge of literature, music, dance, sculpture and history, seems to have gone into oblivion along with the degradation of their culture and social standing. Just as E. Krishna Iyer, who resurrected Sadir as Bharatanatyam in the Madras Presidency, Dr. Nataraja Ramakrishna (1923-2011) promoted the dances of the Telugu- speaking areas. The Kuchipudi Seminar in 1958 being a turning point during which he was asked to revive the lasya dance by some of the female dancers themselves. He subsequently revived Andhra Natyam with the help of Annabathula Buli Venkataratnamma, a famous abhinaya and Prabandha style dancer in the 1970s. He also revived the Perini Sivatandavam.
Compared to the in-your-face dramatisation in Kuchipudi, in which narration of episodes, dialogue and multiple artists may be prevalent, Andhra Natyam is a softer, more sophisticated version. Guru Kalakrishna says, “The feelings are important, not the story.” The movements are tangibly more dainty — the arm movements are less wide and some of the feet movements involve tiny taps, mimicking the steps on the brass plate. The neck and eye movements involve small inflexions, restraint being the key. The repertoire today includes pieces from the three streams — the agama nartanam, the asthana nartanam and the Prabhanda nartanam.
Dr. Nataraja taught his prime disciple Kalakrishna Bhama Kalaapam, which he had learnt from Pendela Satyabhama, a devanarthaki from the Kunthimadhava temple. It is a solo presentation with no Krishna, no Madhavi or sutradhara. There is however a link commentary to provide continuity of the story. The one-hour presentation at Melattur was an abridged and adapted version of the same. Guru Kalakrishna says that he inherited 19 Bhama Kalaapam scripts from his guru by different poets, and he substitutes songs as he sees fit, just like his guru did. The story however is always the same.
Masterly act
‘Bhama Kalaapam’ with Guru Kalakrishna as Satyabhama was a masterly act combining a stately presence, graceful steps, beautiful eye movements and subtle expressions. There is something about female impersonation when the actor-dancer is not self-conscious, the shoulders are relaxed and it feels natural. So too for the artiste’s lips, the ultimate giveaway. However, these details faded into oblivion when his experience and nuanced acting were on display.
The combined artistry of Guru Kalakrishna’s stree vesham with Rama Jagannath’s inspiring music (vocal and nattuvangam) was breathtaking. Satyabhama presents herself in ‘Bhamayani tiluthure’ (Anandabhairavi, Reethigowla) in a vinikidi daru that was traditionally only sung not performed. She requests Krishna to come back, presumably the couple has had a fight and Krishna has walked out.
‘Vinave cheppada’ (Kalyani) in which Satyabhama tells her sakhi about her affluent background and marriage to Krishna, was a beautiful experience; Rama’s voice is so flexible, that she is able to reach high notes effortlessly despite a sruti of 7. Asking her friend to bring Krishna to embrace her (‘Cheli Rammanave,’ Sankarabharanam), Satyabhama dreams up his presence and their romance — Kalakrishna’s abhinaya was so in-the-moment, the excitement and the coyness captured in a free flow of delicate expressions.
‘Chilukalu’ (Abheri) was the best that evening; Satyabhama is suffering in viraha and is tortured by nature taking advantage of her sadness with chirpy parrots, the buzz of the bee, the bright moon and Manmada; the imagery was amplified by the singer’s bhava-filled rendition and the slipping in of melodious harmony notes of ‘mmm’ and a higher pitched ‘eeee’ to denote the bee hovering around the heroine, with poetry, music and dance together creating artistic highs.
The progression in Satyabhama’s mood was sensitively captured — from being a woman sure of her standing and love, she progressed to a long suffering heroine, from where she surrendered to Krishna in a bhakti-soaked Madhyamavathi (Komalaanga Padmanabha dayanide). In a small Desh raga piece, where she was playful, she imagined Krishna's arrival, lost her bravado and welcomed him tenderly, saying she would worship him with golden flowers, ‘Bangaru poovulu.’ The expressions were so delicate, you know you are in the presence of great artistry. It is a pity that the performance was an abridged version.
The accompanying artistes in this musical feast were: Gokulakrishna (flute) and Durai (violin).
