Bhakti in Natyam

Thevaram, the songs of the Moovar, sung by the Odhuvars at the Mylapore Kapaleeswarar temple held us spellbound. The ones by Lalgudi Swaminathan, the temple Odhuvar in those years, and Sargurunathan, the current Odhuvar are my favourites Besides the singing of the Odhuvars, I was also inspired by the singing of sacred music by Dandapani Desikar The rhythms or what they refer to as chandams in some of Thirugnanasambandar’s verses gave me the additional advantage of movement with nrtta. A favourite which I presented even recently in Delhi is Sambandar’s Sirayarum madakkili

I had not seen anyone dance Munnam avarudaya namam kettal before I performed it at the Krishna Gana Sabha in 1982 after hearing Lalgudi Swaminatha Odhuvar. His singing had extraordinary passion and power. But the influence of these saints' songs was in a realm beyond mere dance. bhakti poems meant something extraordinary to me after hearing the congregations of Odhuvars in the Mylapore temple There is a mystic beauty in these verses, mingled with an intimate spirituality, a personal devotion to the Supreme.

Whether it was the Pasurams of the Vaishnavite saints or Thevarams of the Moovar, ideas couched in them gave me the scope for sattvika bhava in dance It is difficult to analyse ideas and inspirations I received from these verses I can only say that an inner awakening took place and this showed in my dance

I recall how engrossed I was in researching and presenting verses from Nammalvar, Tirumangai Alvar, Manickavasagar and others at a lecture demonstration for the annual conference of the Madras Music Academy Using the appropriate ragas when singing these as virutthams took quite a bit of brainstorming between me and my singer The melody that enhances the words is very important. It is that combination which gives my abhinayam its soul, and also makes the audience relish the rasa The seasoned use of pann ragas by traditional singers in the temple have a unique appeal However, to dance certain adaptations it is necessary to choose appropriate ragas.

I think my solo feature Nandanar Charitram is a good example of inspired bhakti in dance. The accolades I received proved that the work had substance Initially I had danced Vazhi maraithirukkudu, a breathtaking song in the raga Todi, composed by Papanasam Sivan My brother (K V Balu) told me about this fabulous tune after he heard the disciple of Sivan, Mani Bhagavathar, sing it during a margazhi bajanai in Mylapore. Charumathi learnt the authentic version from Mani Bhagavathar, and I danced it both at the Krishna Gana Sabha and at the Music Academy (1980) Enraptured by this moving number as presented by me, Mr Yagnaraman, the Secretary of Krishna Gana Sabha, suggested that we do the full Nandanar Charitram as a solo dance feature along with Gopalakrishna Bharathi’s compositions. A lot of work went into this, and the audience responded very positively when I danced at the ITC Vaggeyakara dance festival Asha Ramaswami (Ramesh) and Sangeetha Sivakumar worked closely with me on the music, as also Keshavan the expert percussionist. In my feature Nandanar Charitram, I did an elaborate Sanchari with the maddalam alone as a musical accompaniment, as in Kathakali and Koodiyattam The search by Brahma as the Hamsa bird, and Vishnu as the boar worked incredibly well as a narrative The poetess Soundara Kailasam used to speak of it so eloquently for many years, saying she saw Nandanar only for ninety minutes! My ultimate pleasure was to dance it at the Gopalakrishna Bharati Jayanti held in his village Ananda Tandava Puram.

Visiting temples became a cultural connection for me from a young age. The vast spaces, the sculptural wonders and the festive processions were a source of aesthetic inspiration Myths connected to shrines work well in my sancharis in a Pada Varnam. I recall observing the quaint sculpture depicting the story of Manuneedhi Cholan in the Thiruvarur Tyagesar temple Through suggestive abhinaya, I portrayed this story in a Tanjore Quartet Varnam

It was quite an honour to be invited to dance in the first ever Chidamabram Natyanjali, a brainchild of Kapila Vatsyayan, in the late seventies I featured Chidambaram in all its mysterious and glittering ambience in my film Poetry of Dance I also choreographed Chidambaram, a dance feature based on the myths of the cosmic dance of Shiva My earliest brush with Thillai in dance was the famous Tamil padam Kalai thookki in Yadukula Kambhoji It took me many years to fully understand the myths of Patanjali and Vyagrapada, as well as the concept of the eternal pillar of light with no beginning or end

The mystic element in all our poems and songs have always engrossed me and I have absorbed them into my dance in suggestive and subtle ways I was introduced to the concept of nindha sthuthi, by Guru Ellappa when he taught me the Kalyani Tamil Padam Ethai kandu nee icchai kondai in 1970. There were also pieces like Nadamadi thirinda, a ninda sthuthi piece by Papavinasa Mudaliar, in raga Kambhoji that I danced for in the early eighties New pieces were always challenging for me I soaked in the music and lyrics, made notes and finally made it my own. When I danced, it all looked easy but a lot of thought went into the process. I often got obsessed with the song and it kept swimming in my head for days Perhaps there is a method to making visual music It cannot be formulated With me it has been a spontaneous flow of ideas, and a deep immersion in self-forgetful devotion

When I was invited to the Delhi International festival to perform in Madhu Kishwar’s festival of women poets, I explored some new possibilities Andal and Meera were obvious choices, but I wanted something unique I found it in both Avvayyar, and the inimitable verses of Karaikkal Ammayar She sings in praise of the dance of Shiva, whilst naming all the ancient musical instruments that the celestials played in their role as accompanists to the dance. She smiled, playing the cymbals with her head turned up, gazing at the wonder of that awe-inspiring Tandavam

When the dancer Alarmel Valli curated a festival of bhakti poetry a few years ago, she invited me to present a special selection from my repertoire It was challenging to dance in bhakti bhava for more than an hour. But what helped in the seamless flow of ideas and emotion was the way I chose verses, and varied the themes and the tempo of singing Kulasekhara Alvar and his moving verses addressed to the Lord at Tirumalai took my abhinaya to the rasikas in a telling manner My special offering that evening was the profound verses of Manickavasagar, as he sang his passion and devotion to Shiva, imploring the Kothumbi to be his messenger Sargurunathan Odhuvar guided me in selecting raga Kambhoji for these magnificent verses

I have learnt that for my way of Natyam, Tamil bhakti poetry is the soul, source and inspiration. Always a student, I continue my deep study of Tamil bhakti poems. I bow my head down to those saints and savants who lived more than a thousand years ago, and wandered along the Kaveri river, lifting the spirits of their followers to a higher plane of consciousness then, and as they do so now

About the aurthor

Lakshmi Vishwanathan is a Bharatanatyam dancer, teacher, writer, researcher and scholar. She is also a gold medallist in English literature from the Madras University Her articles on dance and music have been published in newspapers including The Hindu and many other journals of repute She is a recipient of many awards, titles and fellowships including the senior Tagore research fellowship from the government of India; the Nrithya Kalanidhi from the Music Academy and the Sangeet Natak Academy award for her contributions to the field of Bharatanatyam