Moodbidri: Sri Lankan Dance, Aerobics Enthrall All on Day 3 of ‘Virasat’
 
Daijiworld Media Network – Moodbidri (NR)
Pics by: Dayanand Kukkajje  

Moodbidri, Jan 5:  The day-three event of five-day cultural extravaganza ‘Virasat’ entitled the 'Heartbeat Ensemble' was held here at Shobhavana, Moodbidri on Friday January 4 with the Sri Lankan dance troupe, performing its traditional folk dance in one session and the other being an instrumental fusion music by a Chennai-based team.
 
As the sun lost its harshness and the horizon was emblazoned with myriad colours the evening, Shobhavana witnessed an amazing musical concert by Dr Ghatam Karthik and his troupe from Chennai performing an instrumental fusion. The concert began with 'mallari raaga'. In this concert 'ratti pati raaga' and 'aadhi tala' played by Yemberkandan seemed to remind the audience of 'mungaru malle' or the monsoon showers.
 
The 'mangala karini mata bhavani' sthuti (devotional song on deity Bhavani) by Karthik elevated the audience to heights of ecstasy while the fusion of 'maala malava gowda raaga' and musical performance on the famed drum in 'aadhi tala', and the classical recital on the violin, mandolin, ghatam and mridamgam, tempted the audience to inadvertently express their approval. 
 
While 'jog' and 'ratipati priya' raagas were composed by Karthik, 'vanaspati raaga' were composed by Khandan. Ghatam Karthik was accompanied by Emberkandan on violin, U P Raju on mandolin, Poogalam Subramaniam on Mridangam, Sunder Kumar on Kanjeera and B S Arun Kumar on frame drum.

The next session began with a dance performance given by the Sri Lankan troupe, which surprised many here, with its close similarity to the Indian dance styles.
 
There were also striking similarities noticed in the Sri Lankan dancers’ attire, gestures, dance presentation and even their musical instruments like the drums, which were very similar to the Indian 'chanda' and 'dholak'. In fact the entire presentation closely resembled Karnataka's musical dance dramas.
 
Veeragasha, the leader of the Sri Lankan dance troupe in a mind-blowing performance, in one non-stop dance step performed eight twirls without losing his grace or rhythm. This act was hugely applauded by the appreciative audience.
 
However, the one noticeable difference seen was that unlike a Yakshagana performance in Karnataka, where the artistes have a constant dialogue going between themselves, in this instance the dance performance was only in the form of gestures and movements without any verbal communication.

In fact in the genre of thelma dance, the amalgamation of the background musical score by two veterans with the dance presentation closely resembled the Yakshagana of the region. Moreover twirling motion on their toes was also more or less a replication of the northern style of Yakshagana, except in the case of costumes.
 
Another surprising aspect one witnessed at this cultural fete was the Lankan 'nagaraksha-gururaksha' nritya and 'pavitra kalinga' nritya (scared kalinga snake dance) and its striking resemblance to the Indian genre of coastal naga nritya.
 
In the end the Sri Lankan dance recital where the naga prays and pleads to the Garuda (eagle) as he is trapped in his beak, was an heart-rendering scene indeed. The facial expression of the artistes and the melody of the background score completely spell-bounded the appreciative audience. Thus ended another enthralling evening of dance and musical performance, for the appreciative audience here at Moodbidri.