During the Bhakti movement of 6th century, Krishna transformed from being God to a concept that represented a unified whole. The Vaishnava saints of Bhakti became enablers, who approached this concept with a certain sense of humanism and accessibility, making him more human and less God. The universal appeal associated with Krishna made him the friend, the husband, the child, the mother and the sakhi.
The plethora of poetry, music and performative arts created during this time became a continued tradition, which went on to form one of the pillars of the classical arts tradition of India, making it a living tradition.
As part of the Janmashtami celebrations organised by the India Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, called “Gita Govinda”, acclaimed Mohiniyattam dancer Bharati Shivaji curated a two-day festival showcasing six different classical arts traditions on the theme of “Gita Govinda”. The artiste line-up was stellar and included Bharati Shivaji and group, Dhrupad artiste Ustad Wasifuddin Dagar, Odissi dancer Ranjana Gauhar and group, Manipuri artistes Singhajit Singh, Charu Sija Mathur and the Manipuri Nrityashram, Carnatic vocalist Sudha Raghuraman and Kathak by Shovana Narayan and her Asavari Repertory.
Bharati Shivaji in performance
Says Bharati, “I always tried to understand Mohiniyattam in its regional perspective. Even in the reconstruction that I worked on, it helped me go into the indigenous art forms. In Guruvayoor, the musical tradition of Sopanam and its rendering is very different, it has a devotional mood to it. The Kottipaadi seva is a living tradition and I wanted to highlight that through my choreography.” The group began with an invocation which highlighted the mood of devotion to Guruvayoorappan. The devotees are depicted as singing in the sanctum sanctorum with the Edakka, and then the gopis invoke the blessings of the lord.
Later, Radha enters with her Sakhi and as they observed, they saw Krishna dancing with the many gopis. An upset Khandita Nayika of Radha is led to Yahi Madhava, later depicting the divine love of Krishna with Priye Charuseele. Even though the dramatisation in itself was entirely soulful, what really stood out was Deepa Ramakrishnan's depiction of Guruvayoorappan, highlighted by her nuanced abhinaya and clear movements. Vani Pahwa as Radha and Bharati herself as Sakhi too delivered splendid performances.
Soulful alaap
Dhrupad's tryst with Krishna is inescapable. Beginning with a soulful alaap in Yaman that describes Krishna's bansuri, Ustaad Wasifuddin Dagar went on sing “Gita Govinda” compositions in Chandrakosh and Miyan ki Malhar. The personality of the ragas were highlighted in Dagar’s renditions. The control over his gamak was impeccable with extensive support from his accompanying artistes, with Pandit Mohan Shyam on the pakhawaj and Shivam Bharadwaj and Santosh Kumar on the tanpura. The next performance was by acclaimed Odissi dancer Ranjana Gauhar and her disciples. The group began with Ranjana's modified choreography of the “Dasavatar”, which had many new elements, intertwined into the classic. Ranjana did a solo of the iconic ashtapadi “Dheere Samire”, and was followed by a group presentation of the abhinaya piece, “Lalita Lavanga Lata”.
It was more inclined towards pure dance, representing the joy of Basant . Spring in itself is a season heavily associated with Krishna. Says Ranjana, “Odissi was sung and danced in the temples of Jagannath Puri for centuries. The bhakti and devotion and surrender with which the Mahari carried it, is still an integral part of the art-form. Krishna is the philosophy of existence, of relationships, and of love.” In pieces like “Dheere Samire”, the character of the Sakhi is of much more importance than the protagonists. She is often the unifying force.
“The Sakhi binds the atma and parmatma. In ‘Dheere Sameere’, Krishna is pining for love and Sakhi is the guru, who gives directions. On the face of it, it looks like love, but there is a certain universality associated to it. ‘Gita Govinda’ walks parallel worlds, the material and the spiritual, while maintaining the dignity, purity and sacredness,” adds Ranjana.
The second day began with Manipuri performance by Singhajit Singh, Charu Sija Mathur and the Manipuri Nrityashram.
The dance slowly developed on the intricacies of “Raas Leela” and the spirituality that has long been associated with the dance form. The second performance was by Carnatic vocalist Sudha Raghuraman, who began with a shloka from the Balamukunda Stotram (Kararavindena Padaravindam). She followed it with Swagatam Krishna in Mohana, in Tisra nadai eka talam, a composition of Oothukaadu Venkata Subbaiyer.
Immense scope
This was followed by Pananasam Sivam Kriti, in Ragam Varamu or Shuddha Hindolam set to Adi talam. She also sang an ashtapadi Pravisha Radhe, composed by M Balamuralikrishna, ending with Abhang and Sankeertan. “I like to end with a bhakti sankeertan, it leads to an ecstasy. I called it Krishnarpanam,” says Sudha. Her meticulous singing was followed up by a request from the audience, after which she very gracefully rendered “Krishna Nee Begane”. “Krishna is my friend, boyfriend, son, and mother. Each song has a different kind of bhakti, with sringara in ashtapadi, sravana of attributes, vatsalya in Krishna Nee Begane, etc. There is immense scope just to explore him,” says Sudha. She was accompanied by G Raghuraman on the flute, Kumbakonam N Padmanaban on the Mrudangam, Shambhu Nath Bhattacharjee on the tabla and N Hari Narayanan on the ghatam.
The festival ended with Shovana Narayan and her Asavari Repertory's Kathak. “For Kathak, from the Gangetic belt we have poetry galore on Krishna. For many dance forms, it begins with Jayadev, but we have Meera Bai and Vidyapati and so many others. I just took ‘Gita Govinda’ as divine songs of Krishna as my motive, to be soaked in the love and colour of Krishna. That is why my evening was called Krishnamayi,” says Shovana.
She started with Vallabhacharya's “Madhurashtakam”, following it with a solo Natwari Nrutya part of Kathak. "In Kathak there is a popular belief "ta tai tai tai tat" was the sound that emanated from the dancing feet of Krishna. All the rhythmic patterns which had the imageries of Krishna was based on Natwari Nrutya,” says Shovana. Shovana's abhinaya depicted three moods of the nayika – angry, jealous/sad and playful. "She waits and he does not come. And then when he does come, it is “Kahe ko mere ghar aaye ho...”, laughs Shovana. She followed it with Yahi Madhava and a Meera bhajan.
