Bhubaneswar: The 7th edition of two-day-long Barnali Festival concluded on a grand note at Utkal Rangamanch in Bhubaneswar on Friday.
Organised by Rudrakshya Foundation, one of the premier Odissi dance institution of the state founded by Guru Bichitrananda Swain in 2000, the festival was dedicated to Christopher Charles Benninger.
Benninger, an American who made India his home for over half a century was an architect, educator and urbanist. With Ramprasad Akkisetti, whom he met in 1993, he set up Christopher Charles Benninger Architects (CCBT) in Pune. One of the most celebrated architects of India, Benninger had been a guiding force behind Rudrakshya Foundation till 2024, the year when he left for his heavenly abode.
The lighting the auspicious lamp ceremony of the concluding evening had eminent Odissi vocalist and musicologist Guru Ramahari Das and co-founder of CCBT and president of Rudrakshya Foundation, Ramprasad Akkisetti as esteemed guests.
While addressing the gathering, Das heaped praise on Guru Bichitrananda Swain for his beautiful choreographic works and sought a long life for his institution, Akkisetti said it should be people’s responsibility to preserve our rich tradition of art and culture. “In pursuit of this goal, my architectural firm, CCBA Designs, has designed a beautiful campus for Rudraksha Academy. This campus will include spaces for performance, practice and housing for dancers, much like a gurukul. We are doing this pro bono,” he said.
The cultural evening started with a solo Odissi dance recital by Smt Lipsa Satapathy. Bestowed with a chiseled body and impressive pair of eyes, Satapathy has the opportunity of learning Odissi dance from gurus like Guru Gangadhar Pradhan, Guru Aruna Mohanty and Guru Bichitrananda Swain. She commenced her presentation with a pushpanjali to Lord Jagannath and followed it up by ‘Dheera Sameere’, an Ashtapadi from 12th century saint-poet Jayadeva’s Gita Govinda. In this piece set in a dense grove by the Yamuna River, Satapathy beautifully portrayed the anguish of Radha and the resultant depression of Krishna, a testimony to her rigorous practice. She was able to convey the varied emotions in this choreographic work of Guru Bichitrananda Swain, original music by Pandit Raghunath Panigrahi, music by Guru Ramahari Das, vocal by Guru Bijay Kumar Jena and rhythm composed by Guru Dhaneswar Swain. The presentation set the mood of the evening, leaving the art lovers wanting more.
Next presentation was a Bharatnatyam by Samrat Dutta and Santanu Roy from Kolkata.
They presented ‘Dasamahavidya’, choreographed by Samrat Dutta, Sanskrit research work by Samipeshu Das and Debopam Das, set to Raga Dasa Raga Malika and Tala Tala Malika.What they depicted was that ‘Dasamahavidya’ is not only the description of the dhyana mantras of ten Devis such as Kamala, Kali, Tara, Bagala, Bhairavi, Bhubaneswari, Dhumabati, Matangi, Chhinnamasta and Shorashi but also the reflection of the ultimate human life, human emotions and the stages through which a man goes gradually towards the ultimate completeness. Impressive Araimandi, neat footwork, facial expressions and body movements made the dancers win the hearts of the audience.
A wide round of applause at the end of the performance was an indication of how it moved the art lovers.
The concluding item of the evening was a group Odissi dance presentation ‘Samudra Manthan’. A total of 16 senior dancers of Rudrakshya Foundation presented it with overwhelming synchronisation and space management. This reviewer has the opportunity to witness ‘Samudra Manthan’ at several stages. But the one at the 7th Barnali Festival will remain etched in my mind forever.
The episodes like war between Devas and Asuras, churning of Ocean of Milk, pulling of Vasuki coiled around Mandara Hill, Lord Shiva consuming the poison to save the three worlds, Dhanwantari coming out with a pot containing amruta, Lord Vishnu taking the form of Mohini, a beautiful damsel, an asura Svarbhanu managing to get a portion of amruta and Lord Vishnu cutting off his head with Sudarshan Chakra were portrayed so clearly that the audience didn’t have any difficulties to figure out what was going on in front of them.
They had an engrossing viewing experience.
This item was choreographed by Guru Bichitrananda Swain, music composed by Guru Ramahari Das, co-composed by Matruprasad Das and script by Sanskrit scholar Pandit Nityananda Mishra.
The dancers were Dushasan Sahoo, Debabrata Behera, Manas Ranjan Sahoo, Santosh Ram, Samir Kumar Panigrahi, Sanjeeb Jena, Prashant Kuanr, Biswajit Jena, Basistha Jena, Rosy Swain, T Tulika Reddy, Suchismita Sahoo, Lopamudra Sahoo, Prahallad Sahoo, Abhipsa Biswal and Anjali Dash.
Avijit Biswal’s light design contributed a lot in creating the moods on the stage.
The anchor of the evening was Er Dr Srinivas Ghatuary.
A memorable evening indeed!
