Melattur is a quiet village. It is only in the summer, the village wraps itself in the splendour and echo of an age-old temple dance-drama tradition, the Bhagavata Mela, which takes place during Narasimha Jayanthi.
Bhagavatas were land owners and agriculturalists, who practised the art form as part of their worship to their deity, Sri Lakshmi Narasimha. These days though many of them have moved to cities, they meet during the festival to celebrate the occasion.
The Melattur Bhagavata Mela Natya Vidya Sangam that was formed in 1964 has been conducting the festival since 1966. The inaugural function this year included staging of ‘Prahlada Charitramu’ under the supervision of their artistic director, R. Mahalingam, who is also a senior exponent of the art form. The setting looked traditional with oil lamps around.
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On the occasion, the book, ‘Prahlada Charitramu of Melattur Venkatarama Sastri’ was released. Published in Telugu and Devanagiri by the Melattur Bhagavatamela Natya Natak Trust, the book has been transliterated and annotated by Dr. N. V. Devi Prasad and vidwan N Srinivasan from the palm leaf manuscript handed over by Kalyani Ammal, daughter of Natesa Iyer (1855-1931), who is considered the father of Bhagavata Mela. The manuscript is available at the U. V. Swaminatha Iyer Library, Chennai.
Bharatanatyam exponent V. P. Dhananjayan released the book while yakshagana artist, Dr. M. L. Samaga, received the first copy. Earlier in 1995, the organisation also published ‘Markandeya’.
“We plan to print all the 10 popular plays of Venkatarama Sastri so that it is available for researchers and connoisseurs,” said Mahalingam. The sangam also unveiled a portrait of Venkatarama Sastri, a painting made with references from old pictures available at the Saraswati Mahal Library in Thanjavur.
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