Tube watch: 70’s show, still fondly remembered

The Margazhi season has seen many sabhas conduct music and dance programmes, drawing hordes of rasikas — a testimony to the city’s strong connection with the performing arts.

Many Bharatanatyam enthusiasts still recall Bharathanjali , a series that was telecast on Doordarshan in 1971. This was one of the first serials on the network.

Presented by dance guru Sudharani Raghupathy on Sundays, it had a large audience that included children. “It was a time when many children were learning dance and so we wanted to show them what

abhinayam and

adavu meant. We wanted them to appreciate the dance form and taught them about various costumes,” says Ms. Raghupathy.

Several great gurus, including Rukmini Devi Arundale, Vazhuvoor Ramaiah Pillai, Padma Subrahmanyam, Kalanidhi Narayanan, Chitra Visweswaran, Swarnamukhi and Leela Samson, appeared on the show and spoke about their styles. “It was a great honour for me,” says Ms. Raghupathy.

The series that came out in black and white, and later in colour, is now available in CD form.