Two evenings of Nangiarkoothu performances in Thiruvananthapuram featured Margi Amritha and Kalamandalam Sindhu on consecutive days.
Ugrasenabandhanam was performed on the first day. The play traces events leading to the imprisonment of Ugrasena by Kamsa, the heir to the throne, who had been abandoned as an infant by the king. Margi Amritha started her recital with Kamsa seeking refuge in the court of Jarasandha, the king of Magadha. Eventually, Kamsa masters the art of weaponry and as he is all set to leave Magadha, he comes across the daughters of Jarasandha.
Accent on sringara
If it is valour that gets highlighted in the first part, in the second part, the accent is on sringara. However, Amritha seemed less keen to explore the character’s romantic side and moved quickly to the scene where he approaches Jarasandha, seeking permission to marry his daughters.
Scene from Ugrasenabandhanam Nangiarkoothu by Margi Amritha.
Scenes portraying a father’s dilemma and a lover’s persistence should have given enough opportunities for Amritha to improvise but she did not take up those opportunities. Jarasandha wonders how he could marry off his daughters to someone who had nothing in his possession. Kamsa requests the King to give him an army to win back his kingdom from Ugrasena. Amritha presented the segments depicting Kamsa’s preparation for the battle, and the battle itself with the required agility and imagination.
The next day, Kalamandalam Sindhu presented Mathuragamanam . She made it look easy with her flawless abhinaya as she presented the incidents during Krishna’s journey to Mathura along with Balarama, his cowherd friends, and Akrura, Kamsa’s messenger.
Kamsa sends Akura to invite Krishna to Mathura, on the pretext of watching a ‘Dhanur Yagam’, which he accepts. As they pass through the banks of the Yamuna, Akrura seeks permission to take a bath and Krishna replies in the affirmative.
Sindhu opened her performance with this segment of the play where Akrura’s devotion to Krishna is the highlight.
Akrura takes a dip in the river and while he’s at it, Krishna assumes his original form of Lord Vishnu, resting on the serpent Anantha floating in the cosmic ocean.
Then they resume their journey, reach Mathura and continue to the venue where the ‘Dhanur Yagam’ takes place. Krishna sends Akrura to inform Kamsa of his arrival and along with Balarama and his friends roam the city lanes.
Interesting encounters
In this latter portion, Kalamandalam Sindhu presented their encounters with the King’s washer-men, Kubja, a hunchback, and a garland seller. When the washer-men try to be arrogant, Krishna kills their leader, making the others run for their lives. He snatches their clothes, distributes them among his friends and he wears a yellow dress.
Kalamandalam Sindhu was at her best presenting Kubja’s encounter with Krishna.
Krishna reaches the venue where the bow and arrow are kept for worshipping. Once again the mood changes and Sindhu presented the aggressive Krishna with equal felicity. He breaks the bow with a thunderous sound and also destroys all the weaponry kept alongside. The play concluded with the artiste showing Kamsa, who becomes even more fearful, hearing the sound of the bow breaking.
Kalamandalam Sajikumar and Margi Mahesh came good in accompanying the performers on the mizhavu on both the days. Margi Mohanan joined them on the thimila on the second day while Margi Visishta, Margi Amritha, Margi Devendu and Margi Aswathi took their turn on the cymbals.
The recitals were organised as part of the monthly programme of Margi.
