Nishagandhi Festival 2015
- skatterbrainn
- Feb 4, 2015
- 2 min read
Nishagandhi is a dance festival organised annually in Trivandrum, a beautiful tropical city on the south western coast of India. I am a big time fan of Indian classical dance. Being a trained dancer myself, I thought it would be refreshing to attend the final day of the festival.
I have to say that the decision was definitely a good one. The night was nothing less than beautiful with an almost full moon, clear starlit sky, beautiful scent of fresh grass, hushes and gushes of the excited audience and of course the cameraman who was constantly zooming in on my best friend who accompanied me to the event ( It was so much fun watching her on the big screen, trying not to laugh out of embarassment ).
Once the event began, the night exploded with ripples of creativity. Three dance forms from three different states in India were showcased. Each dance form was handled by a veteran from that respective field and each portrayed the story of a woman from that state who achieved greatness by refusing to compromise on the values that they believed in ( purity, love and truth ). The dances were fused together by intervals of drama performed by the exquisitely talented Suhasini Mani Ratnam herself.
The dance form of Kuchipudi was used by Yamini Reddy to depict the story of Vasavi who became Goddess Parashakti herself by refusing to marry an old king and instead giving up her life by walking into a burning pyre. Krithika Subrahmanian used Bharatnatyam to portray the story of Ambal and her love for Lord Krishna which blessed her with her desires coming true. Mohiniyattam was the medium used by Gopika Varma to depict the story of Kannaki who burned down an entire city whose King unjustly killed her husband. The dances were heart warming not just for their movements and literature but also because they reminded me of the rich heritage that I hail from, a lineage where such powerful women lived and prospered to set examples for future generations.
I could go on writing about this if I want to but I think I’d rather stop right here. But if you’d like to watch the show, you can click here.
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❤︎❤︎❤︎
SkatterbraiN.
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