Bhubaneswar: The 31st edition of Nrutyayan’s two-day-long annual festival titled ‘Gurudev’ held at Rabindra Mandap in Bhubaneswar concluded on May 25.
Kaikeyi, a 44-minute-long Odissi dance production was the attraction of the festival. It was presented on the first evening by 14 talented dancers of Nrutyayan, an Odissi dance institution founded by Guru Durga Charan Ranbir, a torch bearer of Guru Debaprasad Das parampara.
The president of Nrutyayan, Er Radhashyam Patra’s powerful script and the dancers’ beautiful portrayal of characters gave a new dimension to Kaikeyi, queen of King Dasarath and mother of Bharat.
The presentation described Kaikeyi as the most misunderstood character in Valmiki’s epic treatise The Ramayan. This is perhaps the reason why parents never wish to name their daughters as Kaikeyi. While the conventional readings of the epic project her as jealous stepmother who sends prince Ramchandra to 14 years exile so that her son Bharat becomes the king of Ayodhya, the dance drama narrates her as a loving and caring stepmother who loves her stepson Ramchandra much more than her own son, Bharat.
The episodes like how Kaikeyi eavesdrops a parrot couple discussing that Ramchandra would die the next morning immediately after his coronation, how she asks two boons from King Dasarath to send Ramchandra to exile for 14 years and to make Bharat as the king of Ayodhya, how Ramchandra, Sita and Lakshman leave Ayodhya, how Bharat reacts after hearing about his brother’s exile, how he goes to the forest and pleaded with Ramchandra to return to Ayodhya, how he returns with Ramchandra’s ‘paduka’ (wooden slippers), how he puts them on the throne etc were executed so neatly that art lovers and connoisseurs found themselves glued to their seats all throughout the presentation.
The item, choreographed by Guru Durga Charan Ranbir, rhythm composition by Guru Dhaneshwar Swain and music composition by Guru Sukanta Kumar Kundu, was based on raga Ragamalika and tala Talamalika.
The 14 dancers who stood to my expectations were Gayatri Ranbir, daughter and disciple of Guru Durga Charan Ranbir, Manoj Pradhan, Saurav Mohanty, Shradhanjali Roul, Bidisa Basumallik, Meghna Mohanty, Rohini Samal, Kunu Maharana, Debajani Das, Debasis Pradhan, Bhagyashree Mohanty, Ananya Nayak, Barsha Priyadarshini, Archana Muduki, Soumyadipta and Priyanshi Panda.
The first and second evenings witnessed some scintillating performances presented by the dancers of Nrutyayan.
While eminent Odissi dancer Dr Snehaprava Samantaray, deputy manager of the Indian Express Manisha Sharma and Mardala exponent Guru Dhaneshwar Swain graced the first evening as guests, renowned Odissi vocalist Sangita Gosain, noted Mardala player Guru Niranjan Patra and Secretary of Srikshetra Sahitya Samsad Rabindra Nath Pattnaik attended the second evening as guests.
Biswajit Baliarsingh was the emcee of both evenings.
Photo courtesy: Nrutyayan
