Zurich-based Indian Kathak maestro’s Gita Govinda documentation being realised in Kerala

Thiruvananthapuram Kathak is set to be enriched with a complete portrayal of the Gita Govinda, as it

Kathak is set to be enriched with a complete portrayal of the Gita Govinda, as its senior exponent Pali Chandra is currently composing and choreographing all the 24 songs of the 12th century Sanskrit poem to record them as performances in the classical north Indian dance.

Switzerland-settled Chandra has been working for five years on the pioneering endeavour in her native country’s heritage, aiming to fulfill the mission by next September, according to a release here on Wednesday.

Roping in 150 people, the artiste’s project is being realised in Kerala with the cooperation of disciples from her gurukul with units in India as well as abroad, it said.

A highlight of the unique initiative is its exclusive stage: a forested location off Thiruvananthapuram using the famed model of Japanese botanist-ecologist Akira Miyawaki (1928-2021).

The Miyawaki forest has been grown in association with ICT consultant and service provider Invis, a culture-documenting multimedia company founded in Kerala back in 1995.

The recordings are being shot on a green 120-square-metre plot at suburban Puliyarakonam, also considering that poet Jayadeva’s Gita Govinda mentions around 40 plants.

“Most of these in the vegetation are in the vicinity of our stage,” Lucknow-born Dr. Chandra is quoted as saying in the release.