PANCHALI SABADAM: A REPORT

[Guest guest]

PANCHALI SABADAM: A REPORT

The Panchali

Sabadam dance drama premiered by Yoganjali Natyalayam, under direction of

Ammaji was 100% perfect and I am at a loss for words to adequately appreciate

its grandeur†said Dr A Arivunambi, Dean, School

of Tamil, Pondicherry University.

“The only regret I have†he continued “is that the author of this masterpiece Mahakavi

Subramania Bharatiyar is not alive today to witness his poetry come to life

though Yoganjali Natyalayam. He would be so happy to see this performance where

all artistes did their parts to perfection bringing every character to life. I

was really afraid that Dr Ananda would also come onto the stage to pull

Darudpadi, so effective was his vocal rendition of Dushshana’s words to the

hapless Panchali†said he amidst thunderous applause of approval from the

audience.

Under the aesthetic,

artistic and dynamic direction and co-ordination of Ammaji, Bharatiyar’s

version of this important segment from the Mahabharata came fully alive in front

of nearly a thousand strong and appreciative audience who had assembled on 11th

October in the New Auditorium of JIPMER. The Panchali Sabadam dance drama was

Yognat’s way of paying tribute to its visionary founder, Yogamaharishi Dr Swami

Gitananda Giri Guru Maharaj on the occasion of his 102nd Jayanthi

(birthday) celebrations. The lyrics were adapted from Bharatiyar’s original

play by Mutthamizmamani Kalaimamani Pulavar I Pattabiramane while the music was

composed by Kalaimamani Nada Yoga Shironmani SV Jagadeesan. Dr Ananda Balayogi and

Smt Devasena Bhavanani choreographed the initial dance compositions that were

then tweaked into perfection by Ammaji’s magical hands. As Dr Ananda was to say

later, “Ammaji has that amazing magical touch that can make even the lifeless

statues come to life and dance with grace and beautyâ€. No wonder all the

children and young adults performed their roles to perfection by merging

themselves into their stage characters. “They were so real that I wanted to get

up and beat up Duryodhana, Shakuni and Dushshana†said Venkatesan, a senior

student of Yognat as he came out of the hall. Many others echoed his sentiments

as the three young ladies, Selvi G Kanimozhi (Dushshana), Selvi I Krishnaveni

(Duryodhana) and Selvi S Ghayathri (Shakuni) seemed to have been totally transformed

into their characters. Krishnaveni deserves a special mention for her excellent

help in organizing the songs for the drama. She and Selvi G Kanimozhi were also

part of the initial choreography team with Smt Devasena and Dr Ananda and put

in many hours to get things together when they seemed to be all in pieces at

the beginning. “If not for Krishnaveni’s initial efforts in response to my

challenge, this drama may not have occurred this year!†said Dr Ananda in his

thanksgiving speech as it is the pride of Yognat to see its students become

all-rounders in life and this is part of that training too.

The respected of JIPMER Dr KSVK Subba Rao praised the spectacular performance and

exclaimed that Yoganjali Natyalayam is a treasure of Pondicherry. He complimented both Ammaji and

Dr Ananda on putting on such a performance in the JIPMER auditorium that was

the purpose of creating such an auditorium for not only JIPMER but for all

people of Pondicherry.

Yognat used nearly every facility of this new ‘state of the art’ auditorium to

make the programme a grand success with cooperation form all the departments

involved in the management of the auditorium. “Dr KSVK Subba Rao is a true

lover of the fine arts and deserves special praise for developing JIPMER in so

many ways and this auditorium is one of the feathers in his illustrious capâ€

said Ammaji as she honoured the Director on the occasion.

Right from

the first scene where Bharatiyar receives blessings from Lord Brahma and

Goddess Saraswathi, to the grand ending with Bharata Mata the audience was

totally transfixed to the edge of their seats. “No loose ends at all - we were

totally glued to the drama and its unique dynamism†said Srini (Thiru E

Srinivassan), Director of Yatra Arts Foundation in Auroville who was also in

charge of the excellent lighting for the drama. “Bharatiyar would be so proud

of you and your love for Tamil culture†he continued as he expressed the view

of so many who had tears in their eyes from many emotional scenes that were

expressed musically by Dr Ananda, Sri SV Jagadeesan, Smt. Devasena and Smt.

Vineshwari. Smt Devasena conducted the performance with excellent Nattuvangam

and dynamic vocal support. Thirumudi S Arun gave excellent rhythmic support on

the Mridungam along with Sri Al Ramasamy (Mogarsing) and Sri S Gopal (special

effects). The costumes were organized by Smt Lalitha Shanmugam with make up by Shri

E Somu. Shri C Shanmugam, Sri C Kulandaivelu, Sri Keshavan Giri and others

organized the stage management in an excellent manner without any major

hiccups. Shri P Mutthamizvaanan and Selvi D Reena Joseph gave an excellent

overview of each scene in Tamil and English respectively helping the audience

to enjoy better every nuance of the drama.

The main

characters were played by Dr Padma Prashanthini (Draupadi), I Krishnaveni

(Duryodhana), G Kanimozhi (Dushshana), Shreya Agrawal (Yudhisthira), J Sanghavi

(Krishna), S Ghayathri (Shakuni), S Samyukta (Bharatiyar), R Varalakshmi

(Bhima), S Devasena (Arjuna), K Nivetha (Karna), A Anjana (Nakulan), S

Shanmathy (Sahadevan), G Sarulatha (architect of the palace), M Keerthana

(Goddess Saraswathi and Gandhari) and Geethakala (Dritharasthra and Brahma).

Able support was given by K Kalaivani, S Manju Priya, N Poonghuzhaly, Pradepa

Narayanan, Reshma S Kumar, Debolina Pal, S Samyukta, S Vidya Shankari, S Valli,

A Rajeswari, Dhivya Priya Bhavanani, S

Sahana Sankari, K Swathi, S Preethi, R Sumitra Thillaikannu, R Keerthana Devi, A Priyadarshni, KR Kanagalakshmi,

S Anurupa, J Nivedha, R Parkavi, N Ajayraj, S Marcelin, R Pavithra, P Preetika,

S Vijayalakshmi, S Pavithra, G Swarnamalya, D Darni Josephine, A Thamizhmalar,

Sabarishree who put in great effort to make every scene a great success. No pin

was out of place and no one missed a cue!

Four of the

Yognat families who have been with the institute right since its inception were

honoured as FOUNDING MEMBER FAMILES

on the occasion. The families of Shri CK Manoharun and Smt Mangala Gowri (Dr

Padma Prashanthini and Thribuvan Vijay), Shri K Manickam and Smt Meenakshi

Manickam (M Niraimathi and M Ilaval), Shri R Narasimmamurthy and Smt Chitra

Narasimmamurthy (N Ramya and N Divya) and Shri V Dhanaraj and Smt D Malathi (D

Vimala and D Lakshmi) were thanked for giving Ammaji and Dr Ananda so much

assistance at all times as well as producing torchbearers of the highest Yognat

standards. One member from each family gave thanks and appreciation on behalf

of their family and appreciated Ammaji’s love for the children and their

welfare at all times.

The important

points in the story were highlighted by having Bharatiyar appear and sing his

view of the action as when Yudhisthira loses his kingdom and Bharati (S

Samyukta) roars, “How can one who is a mere custodian, wager the kingdom in the

dice game, shame on you King Dharmaâ€. Similarly the finale with Bharata Mata (S Haritha) being on stage to bless all was a really

striking image that left an indelible impression in the hearts of all.

One of the

highlights was the scene where Dushshana attempts to pull off Draupadi’s sari

and Lord Krishna saves her by making it a never ending one. Great thought and

discussion went into the creation of the scene with 20 small dancers running

around Draupadi with three saris stitched together to create a magical feel of

the never ending sari around Draupadi. Kalaimamani K Rajamanickam, Director of

Sangeetha Salangai Natyalaya was effusive in his praise for the drama and

especially that scene. “A great amount of thought must have gone into that

scene and it was executed to perfection making us all feel that the saris were

really coming in a continuous manner from Lord Krishna himself. The music was

perfect, the characters were perfect, the dramatic elements created by Ammaji as

King Dharma lost his Kingdom and his brothers were so great that we all lost

ourselves in the drama and thought we were in the days of the Mahabharata

itself†he said echoing the statements of so many others who had tears in their

eyes from the intense emotions of many scenes.

“For the

first time ever, I have seen the Nava Rasas (nine emotions of dance and drama)

on the faces of not only the performers but also on the face of each and every

one in the audience†said Srini, film maker and Director Yatra Arts Foundation.

He continued, “Ammaji is doing such a great service for the cause of our Tamilian

culture that we are all so lucky to be part of her yoga and cultural familyâ€.

Srini has worked with Dr Ananda in producing many Yoga Videos and is a drama

artist and director himself who has great sensitivity to the nuances of the

fine arts.

“All the

knowledge of Tamil I have gained in my 78 years of life is not sufficient to

give apt praise for the efforts of Dr Ananda and Amma towards propagation of

Indian culture worldwide†said Kalaimamani Pulavar I Pattabiramane who also

presented the title award of Pannaya

Natiya Sezhunchudar to Dr Padma Prashanthini for her great talent in the

ancient art of Bharatanatyam. Padma is doing her internship at the Pondicherry

Government hospital and often came for practices right after many hours of

grueling duty. As Dr Ananda put it, “Finally Yognat has a dancing doctor, and

such an excellent one too!â€

Dr BM

Sundaram, the renowned musicologist appreciated the great efforts in putting

together such an impressive production and said that it was the best depiction

of Panchali Sabadam he had ever witnessed. He had many years ago composed music

for a production in New Delhi and has been witness to so many performances that

those words take on a greater meaning for us all at Yognat who have such great

regard for him as a special well wisher at all times. He further appreciated

Ammaji’s untiring efforts in taking the great Indian culture to all the

youngsters of the next generation in such an artistic and pleasing manner.

Shri A Muralidharan,

an eminent Chartered account of Chennai was honoured on the occasion with the

title of Karma Yoga Shironmani in

appreciation of his efforts of the Indian society. He has been a well wisher of

Yognat for many years and is a source of constant guidance for the institute in

its development. He and his family have been regular witnesses to the dance

drams of Yognat in the past few years and they appreciate and enjoy the

productions even more as his daughter Aishwariya is a dancer herself.

Yogarani Dr

Nalini and Yogacharini Shobana represented the International Gitananda Yoga

family on the occasion and paid tribute to the yeoman service to the world

community that has and is being done by Swamiji and Ammaji. Thavatthiru Velu

Swamigal of the Rengaih Madam in Karaikal was also present on the occasion with

special blessings for all.

The eminent

Tamil scholar Prof ML Thangappa later wrote, “The drama was so impressive that

one is easily drawn to say that none has achieved such a perfect rendition of

the Panchali Sabadam till date as Yognat has now done. Congratulations to all

involved in the creation of this grand success.â€

All in all a

night of great artistic fulfillment that could occur only because of the potent

blessings of Pujya Swamiji and the unparalleled efforts and stimulation of

Ammaji who continues to motivate us to achieve the highest possible standards

in our attempts for spiritual perfection through Yoga and the performing fine

arts of India.

May we always

be worthy of such blessings in all our Yogic and artistic endeavors.

Yogacharya Dr.Ananda Balayogi Bhavanani Chairman : Yoganjali Natyalayam and ICYER Hon General Secretary, Pondicherry Yogasana Association 25, 2nd Cross,Iyyanar Nagar, Pondicherry, South India-605 013 Tel: +91-413 - 2622902 / +91-413 -3203314/+91-413 -2241561 Mobile: 9842311433 Website: www.icyer.com www.geocities.com/yognat2001/anandahttp://youtube.com/profile_videos?user=yognat2001 & p=r