TAMILNADU TANJORE, CHIDAMBARAM & CHENNAI

2019

Prakruthi Dhwani Season 4: The 2019 edition season 4, titled “Brihat Tripuram”, was presented in Tanjore, India, which is one of the very culturally inclined states down South in Tamilnadu. It is home to the ‘Big temple’, a temple that holds a name in the UNESCO World Heritage Site. The temple is also called Brihadisvara temple, and “Brihat
Tripuram” rightly justifies this. Team Anantara took this as an opportunity to showcase its maximum possible efforts by covering 6 stage performances in this journey for quest for knowledge. The students performed at various venues in and around the South. The concept for this series was based on “Origin of Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi”.

• Tiruvaiyaru, the Holy Samadhi of Saint Sri.Thyagaraja, one of the Trimurthy of Carnatic Classical Music. The students performed a vocal concert highlighting the compositions of Sri.Thyagarajar, amidst the Principal of Tamilnadu Government Music College, Tiruvaiyar, Ms.Uma Maheshwari.
• A dance and music performance by students at the Big temple, Tanjore where the entire faculty and officials associated with the Tamil University graced the occasion. The program was organized by South Zone Cultural Center, Tanjore (An autonomous Organization of the Ministry of Culture). Also present were Kalaimamani Guru Sri. Herambhanathan, the age-old Nattuvanar hailing from Tanjore, Guru Sri.Chandrashekar (Grandson of Natya Acharya, Guru Sri.Kittappa Pillai). The most highlighted performance of the evening was the famous Tamil devotional work Thevaram, which was choreographed in the Kuchipudi style of dance form, which was attempted for the first time and was a one of a kind experience.
• Event at Annamalai University, Chidambaram, where the Vice Chancellor of the University appreciated our efforts and our work on the dance ballet, Sri Krishna Tulabharam.
• Having visited Chidambaram, we paid our obeisance by performing a dance recital at the Chidambaram Nataraja temple.
• Saptha Matrika, the doctrine of Energy, a unique rendition of the Kuchipudi classical dance form (repertoire) was presented in RR Sabha, Chennai along with the students and complete team of Anantara. The program was witnessed by the highest officials and MLAs from the minister’s office. The children received appreciations and certificates from them. The program was very well received and saw audiences in large numbers.
• A visit to Chennai Kalakshetra, the arts and culture academy under the banner of Ministry of Culture. An opportunity to interact with their faculties and Director, Ms.Revathi Ramachandran and also an awareness for our students to witness the Gurukula system followed at Kalakshetra.
• The rich cultural heritage of Andhra Pradesh was experienced in Vijayawada, a privileged honour for Anantara Institutions to have the performance organized by the Government of Andhra Pradesh at Tummalapallivari Kshetrayya Kalakshetram. The event was honoured by Sri. Malladi Vishnu Vardhan, Vijayawada Central MLA and the complete lineage of Gurus of the Kuchipudi parampara like Guru Sri Chinta Adinarayana Sharma, Guru Sri. Bhagavatula Venkatarama Sarma, Sri. Vedantam Pardha Saradhi to name a few. We express our humble gratitude to Smt. Lakshmi Kumari, CEO of Andhra Pradesh State Creativity & Culture Commission and Sri. Srinivas Garu for coordinating the entire event from the Government.
• The last destination was to the village of Kuchipudi, the only village which holds and preserves the traditional values in the field of Kuchipudi dance, a highest honour for every Kuchipudi artist. Our performance was organized at Sri Siddhendra Yogi Natya Kala Vedika in Kuchipudi village in front of the Bala Tripura Sundari temple. The program was attended by many artistes and Gurus like Guru Radheshyam, Guru Pasumarthi Rattaiah Sharma, Natyacharya Sri. Vedantham Manikyalarao, Natyacharini Smt. G.Sandhya Murthy, Natyacharya Sri. Md. Giri, Natyacharini Smt A.Parvathi Ramachandran, to name a few. The program was organised by Sri. Pasumarthy Kesava Prasad, Founder Secretary of Akhila Bharata Kuchipudi Natya Kala Mandali, Kuchipudi. Anantara Institutions honoured them as a token of our gratitude. The students had a wonderful experience to dwell in the village lifestyle and enjoyed the simple food and culture.

WORKSHOPS

Workshop at Tamil University, where the students were exposed to primitive forms of arts from down south, like Karagaatam, Poi Kaal Kudhirai and Kavadiyattam to name a few. Smt. Muthu Kannammal, the senior most Sadir artiste from Swamimalai gave us a demonstration on the essence of Sadir aattam. Certificates
and accolades were presented by the Tamil University Registrar Sri. Muthukumar and Vice Chancellor, H.H.Sri. Balasubramoniam to Anantara’s students. Anantara took this opportunity to honour the dignitaries from Tamil University and also felicitated Smt.Muthu Kannammal.