Sridevi Nrithyalaya’s new work explores the nine modes of bhakti through dance

Sridevi Nrithyalaya’s dance production, ’Siva Nava Bhakthi’ premiered at Vani Mahal, T. Nagar.

The dance brought out the essence of the nine bhakti muraigal 
| Photo Credit:
VELANKANNI RAJ B.

Based on Veda Vyasa’s Shiva Mahapuranam, the dance-drama explored the nine modes of bhakti, specified in the Sati Kandam of the ‘Shivapuranam’. It is here that Siva narrates to Parvathi the nine simple yet profound paths of bhakti—Sravanam, Keerthanam, Smaranam, Paadha Sevanam, Archanam, Vandhanam, Dhaasyam, Sakhyam, and Aanma Nivedhanam.

Each mode was brought to life through moving stories of devotees — Karaikaal ammaiyaar, Nandanar and Kannappar — reflecting Shravana bhakti, Vandana bhakti and aatma samarpana bhakti, , amongst others.  

The dance-drama commenced with Shivagyana bodha sutram, where in the narrators introduced the subject, drawn from various Sanskrit and Tamil literature works and complied by Prof. S. Raghuraman, who had also penned a few verses. The cohesive narration of the sutradaras wove together the nine stories with ease. 

Each scene began with Thirumoolar’s Thirumandiram 
| Photo Credit:
VELANKANNI RAJ B

Each scene began with Tirumoolar’s Thirumandiram, and a silhouette of the Shivalingam was displayed on the screen. The lighting effectively set the mood, highlighting the emotional tone of the characters. The seamless transition from one story to another, helped amalgamate the content of the entire production. In the grand finale, the main characters of all the stories came together with one unified call, ‘Bhakti Seivom, Shiva, Padam Adaivom’ (Let’s pray together to be one with Shiva).

The choreography by Sheela Unnikrishnan, perrfectly synchronized with the  music, composed by Embar Kannan. The script by Shobha Korambil brought out the essence of each character. .

The production concluded with a unified call — ‘Bhakti Seivom, Shiva, Shiva Padam Adaivom’.
| Photo Credit:
VELANKANNI RAJ B

The 57 dancers. who were part of the production performed their roles with utmost sincerity. Some like Mrinalini Sivakumar (Nandanar), Kameshweri Ganesan (Gurudruhan), Bhairavi Venkatesan (Kannappa Nayanar), Ajani Ajay (baby Punitavathi) and Harshini (Yama Dharma Rajan) stood out with their performance. The costumes, well-suited to the theme, need special mention.