Guest guest Posted February 2, 2004 Report Share Posted February 2, 2004 YOGANJALI NATYALAYAM Performs at Tanjore for SALANGAI NAATHAM 2004 A Great Time! A report on the Tanjore trip from the perspective of Dhivya Priya Bhavanani I really had a great time on the 31st of January and 1st of February 2004 as we all (Amma, Appa, and Ammamma + all my Yognat friends) went on a great trip to the temple town of Tanjore. This was because my YOGANJALI NATYALAYAM was invited to perform the inaugural cultural presentation at SALANGAI NAATHAM 2004 the ten-day National Dance Festival and Arts & Crafts Fair held under the auspices of the South Zone Cultural Centre, Tanjore. More than a thousand persons witnessed the programmes that were inaugurated by the honorable governors of Tamil Nadu and Andra Pradesh at the South Zone Cultural Center’s brand new out door auditorium in Tanjore. My first three places of travel outside Pondicherry were significantly Vadalur, Kumbakonam and Tanjore. Vadalur is the town of Saint Ramalingaswamy who was one of the enlightened masters of the South and my Appa often teases me that I look like Saint Ramalingaswamy when I am all bundled up in a white sheet! Kumbakonam is well known for its temples and tanks (but there was no water in them!) while Tanjore is the cultural capital of the South Indian Tamil cultural arts of music and Bharatanatyam. The South Zone Cultural Centre at Tanjore is the organisation founded by the central government to coordinate the cultural activities between the entire south Indian states and under the dynamic leadership of Shri Panindra Reddy IAS, this centre is fast developing as the epicenter of cultural arts in South India. Yognat performed the Yoganatya Kadambham items of Yogaswaranatya, Snake Dance, Shiva Shakti Tandava, Andal Kalyanam and Paras Tillana with a troupe of 17 members. My Ammamma who is also the Director of Yognat, Kalaimamani Smt Meenakshi Devi Bhavanani lead the team comprising of my Amma, Smt Devasena Bhavanani (Natuvangam), Selvi Arasakumari (Vocal), my Appa Dr Ananda Balayogi Bhavanani (Mridungam), Sri T Srinvasan (Violin), Sri Jagadeesan (Casio) and Sri S Gopal (Special effects). The dancers included all my Yognat friends such as D Lakshmi, my sister V Renukadevi, Padma Prashanthini, Kanimozhi, Saranyalakshmi, Agila, Bhuvaneshwari, Shailaja, Kripavathi Samiksha Kapoor and Vidya. I wasn’t included in the dancers, as I was considered too small for the big stage! However I kept the audience enthralled with my laugh, cries and other amusing antics all done in the loving arms of my grand mother (Ammamma). One dance critic actually found my Ammamma and me so interesting that he was reminded of the great Bala Saraswathi dancing while cradling a child in her arms. We all also had an educative visit to the famous Brihadeshwara temple on the 1st morning when my Ammamma explained the intricate symbology of south Indian temple art as depicted on the walls and ceilings of the temples. The specialty of the Aurumuga temple with the peacock facing north unlike other temples and thus forming the shape of the Pranava OM was an amazing vision and I liked it a lot as my mother’s name (Devasena) is the same as Lord Muruga’s wife! The wonderful vibrations of the Devi temple also filled all of us with awe. However I was sad that I couldn’t find the Shiva Lingam though I looked all over the floor of the sanctum sanctorum for it. My Appa later said that I didn’t see it because it was too big for me (it is really huge) and that I wasn’t looking up high enough. We also had a chance to visit the museum and art gallery at the Tanjore palace complex and climb the towers of the queen’s palace. I was sleeping and so my Appa carried me up and down the towers but I am sure the vibrations will be within me. A quick view of the Maha Magam tank at Kumbakonam and the towers at Chidambaram were the toppings on the cake of cultural experience. We all returned to Pondicherry a tired but happy group and my lasting memory will be of all the wonderful floors that I crawled on in Tanjore and the beautiful ceilings that were there for my sight!Yogacharya Dr.Ananda Balayogi Bhavanani Chairman Yoganjali Natyalayam and ICYER 25,2nd Cross,Iyyanar Nagar, Pondicherry-605 013 Tel;0413 2622902 / 0413 2241561 abb,yognat2001 Website: www.icyer.com SiteBuilder - Free web site building tool. Try it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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