Divya Ravi brought out well the myraid emotions of Andal through her captivating imageries

Into the world of Andal through Bharatanatyam

An unscheduled stopover at an auditorium where a Bharatanatyam performance was taking place turned out to be an enriching experience. Clueless about the performer, I watched, and was slowly drawn into the world of Andal.

Dancer Divya Ravi had a stage presence that elicited interest, with her Andal Kondai and appropriate Aharya. Slowly, her movements, expressions and exploration of ideas took over and the emotions of Andal unfolded beautifully through an extensive elaboration of an Adi taala ragamalika varnam, written by G. Vijayaraghavan and tuned by Hariprasad Kaniyal.

Adding an extra dimension to the musical passages, Divya incorporated a few select verses — ‘Ulangunda Vilangani pol, Koodidu koodale, Vinneela Melappu, Kallavizh Poonganai Thoduthukondu’ from the Nachiyar Thirumozhi, rendered poetically by Nattuvanar Jyotshna Akilan (nattuvangam). 

The imageries used — that of a worm gnawing at a fruit to represent her tormented state, the dark clouds looking like a blanket that would wrap around her lord and fetch him, Manmatha being entreated to send his honey-dripping arrows to her lord and unite them, and the delicacy with which she cajoles her parrot calling out ‘Achutha, Achutha’ — werecaptivating. 

However, Divya also needs to avoid overstretching some ideas, like the sequence of the flower garland, where the continual circular movements made it look like a coiled snake.

A rather unusual choice was a poem penned by Buddhist monk Amrapali, from ‘Terigatha’, said to be the oldest surviving anthology of feminist poetry in the Indian sub-continent, containing 73 poems in Pali language. This poem was composed in Saaranga and Sumanesa Ranjani ragas.

This composition speaks of the woman coming to terms with her ageing body —  her thick, dark hair which was once like a honey bee, feels like hemp grass, her jewel-like eyes have lost their lustre,  and her voice which was sweet as a cuckoo now sounds like harsh drums. These ideas were beautifully explored. The adornment of flowers in her hair was done distinctly.