Organised by Rotary Club of Coimbatore Metropolis and the HR & CE Department, Government of Tamil Nadu, the annual dance festival held at the Patteeswarar Temple, Perur, showcased the best samples of Indian dance forms.
On the inaugural day, L. Murugasankari (Chennai) presented a scintillating Bharathanatyam recital. Titled ‘Shivoham’, the presentation began with a sloka by Kalidasa (‘Vaagarthaaviva’), that describes how Siva and Parvati are inseparable. She then moved on to ‘Ardhanareeswara Ashtakam’ where she admirable depicted the feminine grace of Parvati and the masculine power of Siva. The next item, the ‘Charana Sringa Rahita Stotram’ by Patanjali, was beautiful. Murugasankari gave life to Patanjali’s description of the divine dance of Siva at Chidambaram. The lilting rhythm of the song, the exquisite beauty of the meaning and the vivid depiction by the artist were enjoyable. The quality of the recorded music enhanced the effect.
Chitra Visveswaran’s troupe presented Thirugnana Sambandar’s ‘Kolaru Padhigam.’ The devotion, sincerity and mature approach were visible in every movement. They narrated as how and when ‘Kolaru Pathigam’ was composed. When queen Mangaiyarkkarasi had invited Thirugnana Sambandar to Madurai to win the king back to Saivism, Thirunavukkarasar (who was also present there) expressed his anxiety that the planetary position was not favourable for his journey. But young Sambandar convinced him saying that all the planets would be favourable to the devotees of Siva and composed these 10 stanzas. ‘Kolaru Pathigam’ means - the ten stanzas that remove the obstacles caused by the position of the planets.
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Chitra Visveswaran had paid minute attention to the details and presented many important episodes from the life of Siva. For the stanza beginning with ‘Pala Pala Vaedamaadum’, the dancers depicted the Shanmatha, presenting the six types of worship, with Surya, Ganapathy, Murugan, Siva, Shakti and Vishnu as the main deities. The episodes depicting Markandeya, Bhagiratha, Arjuna’s fight with Siva and the burning of Kamadeva stood out in this aesthetic offering that focussed on instilling devotion.
The first day’s programme concluded with the thematic presentation, ‘Siva Sakti’ by the students of Aditya Hridayam (Guru-R.Srinivasan, Bangaluru.)