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Siddhendra
Yogi Mahotsav 2007 at Natya Kshetram Kuchipudi
 The
objective behind this festival is to bring the rich cultural heritage of
Kuchipudi to limelight and mark the tiny village of Kuchipudi on the map
of India as an abode of art and a tourist destination and to encourage
more artistes and residents of Kuchipudi to pursue a career in the Kuchipudi
art form. The festival also addresses the issue of lack of patronage to
the art of Kuchipudi. It is believed that several artistes in the village
are struggling to support their families and are compelled to take up alternative
careers. And the Mahotsav is an attempt to bring awareness about the Kuchipudi
village at an international level.
This year,
the week long Siddendhra Yogi Mahotsav '07 from February 26th to March
4th featured eight classical dance forms from across the country and overseas
along with varied forms of Kuchipudi. Morning sessions were mainly devoted
to Seminars, Lecture Demonstrations and workshops by scholars and artistes
in their respective fields.
A gist of the week's grandeur:
The program began with a Carnatic music concert by T V Sankaranarayanan. The accompanying artistes were Thiruvarur Bhaktavatsalam on mridangam, Nagai R Muralidharan on violin, and E M Subramanian on ghatam. Later, Pandit Birju Maharaj was honored with the "Siddhendra Yogi Puraskar" award for his lifetime contribution in the promotion of performing arts (Kathak), by Guru Vempati Chinna Satyam and Guru Vedantam Satyanarayana Sharma after which, Pt Birju Maharaj along with his disciple Saswathi Sen and others, danced on late into the night, reveling in the ecstasy of his beloved art form. This was a real treat to the eyes of all the thousands of connoisseurs of art watching the performance that day.
The evening session showcased an Odissi performance by Kiran Segal and her disciples followed by Pasumarthy Ramalinga Sastry and troupe's Kuchipudi dance ballet 'Sasirekha Parinayam.' The ballet was very enjoyable with the story line being that of the well known mythological epic "Maya Bazaar" from the Mahabharata. While T Rami Naidu as Lakshmana Kumara was the cynosure of the show, Vedantam Venkata Chalapati as Abhimanyu did an excellent job.
Later, that evening, guru Keremane Shambhu Hegde and troupe’s Karnataka Yakshaganam 'JaraSandha Vadhe' drew gasps of admiration from an enthralled audience.
The evening session showcased the Kannada puppet show of ‘Parijatam’ by M.R Ranganatha Rao and the popular Kuchipudi dance ballet 'Rukmini Kalyanam' of Vempati Chinna Satyam. The cast had Vempati Ravi Shankar as Rukmi, Prabha Ramesh as Lord Krishna, Vempati Sri Moy as Rukmini, Principal of Kuchipudi Kalakshetra, Visakhapatnam, Hari Rama Murthy as Sishupala, Chinta Rama Murthy as Agni Dhyotana, Divya Yeluri, Jayanti Lalitha Kalpana, Laina, Hima Bindu, Sumathi, Subha Maruvada, Vasavi and Shruti in other roles. Saturday,
3rd March:
The evening's programs started off with excellent Bharatanatyam by Ananda Shankar Jayanth and her troupe. The highlight of this program was the depiction of the Dasavataras in a very novel way in the Ramadas Kirtana 'Takkuvemi Manaku.' This program was followed Jayanth Kastuar's Kathak presentation which was followed by the Kuchipudi dance Drama 'Bhakta Prahlada,' which concluded the whole festival. Once again, both the Kathak recital and Vedantam Venkata Naga Chalapathi’s Bhakta Prahlada were of very high standard. To conclude,
with the venue being an aesthetically designed stage with the flood-lit
tower of Ramaligeswara Swamy and Balatripurasundari temple as backdrop,
with good accommodation at the Siddhendra Yogi University in Kuchipudi
and in Vijayawada, with Dr. Vempati Chinna Satyam, Vempati Venkat and Vempati
Ravi Shankar, all the exponents of Kuchipudi and other great artistes of
all the Indian classical arts coming together, with the exhibition of antique
jewellery, crowns, costumes, photographs and artifacts, the Siddhendra
Yogi Mahotsav '07 was a real treat for the more than ten thousand people
who attended it from all the neighboring villages. Kuchipudi village was
a real Natya Kshetram the whole week. Kudos to the organizers Kuchipudi
Art Academy, Chennai and Akhila Bharata Kuchipudi Natya Kalamandali, Kuchipudi
and to guru Vempati Chinna Satyam who can use each disciple of his as a
chisel to sculpt the wonderful art of Kuchipudi.
Sree Kriti Chapa is a 9th grader from Visakhapatnam. In addition to learning Kuchipudi, Kriti is also a student of classical Carnatic music. |
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The
small village of Kuchipudi, from which the dance originated, (hence the
name), housed some of the finest artists. The first Kuchipudi festival
"Siddendhra Yogi Prathama Varshika Jayanthi Utsavam" was held in December
1948, and was organized by Sri Lalitha Natya Kala Samithi. However, starting
with the Siddendhra Yogi Mahotsav'06 when the legendary guru Dr.Vempati
Chinna Satyam and his sons, Vempati Ravi Shankar and Vempati Venkat took
upon themselves the task to put Kuchipudi on the world map, the village
of Kuchipudi came into limelight once again.
Monday,
26th February:
The
evening started off magnificently, with the inauguration of the village
arch and the unveiling of the statue of Saint Siddendhra Yogi by Shri Navin
Mittal, Collector of Krishna District, Andhra Pradesh.
Tuesday,
27th February:
The
morning session of the second day of the Siddendhra Yogi Mahotsav commenced
with a combined lecture demonstration by Vempati Ravi Shankar and Jonnalagudda
Anuradha featuring the changes the Kuchipudi dance form has undergone over
the ages. It was an intriguing topic, but was not very tastefully done.
Wednesday,
28th February:
In
the morning session, words do not suffice to describe the Bharatanatyam
lecture demonstration by the Dhananjayans. The mark of a maestro
was clearly evident in guru Dhananjayan's depiction of both the traditional
Bharatanatyam repertoire and the present day modern world of computers
and rockets. In the evening, music concert of the Priya sisters, Hari Priya
and Shanmukha Priya was followed by the performance of the Dhananjayans
with their disciples. The performance was exceptional as expected. In an
item depicting a few parts of the Ramayana, the portrayal of guru Dhananjayan
as Manthara and Dasaratha, and guru Shanta Dhananjayan as Kaikeyi left
the audience spellbound.
Thursday,
1st March:
The
morning session went as planned, featuring the lecture demonstrations of
Professor Balagangadhar Rao, Vibhisana Sharma and Keremane Shambhu Hegde.
The evening session however, did not go quite as smoothly. The Kuchipudi
Yakshaganam 'Bhakta Prahlada' was postponed to the 4th of March due to
a tragic death in the family of the Nattuvanar. This was replaced by Kuchipudi
performances by Vempati Chinna Satyam’s disciples. Vempati Ravi Shankar,
Telugu film actress Prabha Ramesh, Divya Yeluri from New Jersey, and Vempati's
daughter-in-law Vempati Sri Moy performed Kuchipudi solo items choreographed
by their guru with a high degree of perfection and grace which marks Vempati's
style of Kuchipudi. Divya Yeluri's rendition of 'Kamakshi Stuti' deserves
special mention. The other items were 'Surya Stuti' performed by Vempati
Ravi Shankar and Vempati Sri Moy, Saint Thyagaraja's composition 'Ksheera
Sagara Sayana' by Vempati Ravi Shankar, Jayadeva's Ashtapadi by Vempati
Sri Moy and Kshetrayya padam by Prabha Ramesh. The ending item was a Tillana
in Hindolam which is a composition of the maestro Vempati himself. This
was performed by Divya Yeluri and Vempati Sri Moy.
Friday,
2nd March:
The
morning session was highlighted by a workshop on Manipuri by the acclaimed
Manipuri exponent Dharshana Jhaveri and troupe.
Although
all the dancers did justice to the characters they were portraying, some
of the sets, backdrops and the like could have been handled with more care.
'Sri Pada Parijatham' is the life story of the music composer Annamayya.
Kavitha as Bala Annamayya did an excellent job. Vempati Ravi Shankar was
Annamayya. Divya Yeluri and Vempati Sri Moy played the wives of Annamayya.
Vasavi as Lord Vishnu and Divya Yeluri who also played the role of Alamelu
Manga, the consort of Lord Vishnu were extremely captivating in their roles.
Hari Rama Murthy played both Ghana Vishnu and Salva Raja and Narayana played
the role of Purandara Dasa. Kanti Lal on mridangam, Vanaja and DSV Sastri
gave excellent vocal rendition and nattuvangam by guru Vempati himself
added great value to the dance drama.
Sunday,
4th March:
The
last day of the festival, Holi and Vasantotsavam (Festival of Spring),
all fell on Sunday, the fourth of March. The agenda was very packed both
in the morning and evening. The morning session was exceptionally good,
featuring the lecture demonstrations of dance critic Dr. Sunil Kothari,
dancers Ananda Shankar Jayant, Ranee Kumar, Anupama Mohan and Kalamandalam
Kshemavathy. Anupama, a Kuchipudi exponent from Kerala, depicted a scintillating
episode about Bhakta Kannappa, an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva so artistically,
that the entire audience was in tears by the end of it.