Bharatnatyam performance: Amalgamation of ragas on stage

Despite the Bonalu celebrations around the city this Sunday, the Ranghabhoomi spaces at Serilingampalle were packed with an audience eager to witness the unique presentation of Kalyani Raga, Iti Kalyani. Presented by Sahityakalpa, the performance showcased the intricate beauty of this 65th melakarta raga, a favourite muse for many music composers across centuries.

With a live music ensemble, Bharatanatyam dancer and founder of Sahityakalpa, Sahitya Ramkumar, flawlessly presented Iti Kalyani. Kalyani Raga, often celebrated as the raga of romance, is the resplendent queen of all ragas. Her janya ragas — Mohana Kalyani, Hamir Kalyani, and Yaman Kalyani — not only share the regal name of their mother raga but also echo her essence while blossoming with their own unique melodies.

As the curtains raised, Iti Kalyani opened with a seamless blend of a beautiful jatiswaram and allaripu, made harmonious by their matching thalam Misrachapu, cycles of seven beats. This Thanjavur quartet jatiswaram is set in Raga Mohanakalyani, unique and beautiful due to its Aarohanam incorporating the notes of Raga Mohana and its Avarohanam featuring the notes of Kalyani. The jatiswaram adheres to traditional norms, and the allaripu maintains its traditional form, yet the blend creates a flow between the allaripu and the jatiswaram, both popular opening compositions individually, aiming for a seamless transition.

The show continued with a Varnam, the central piece of the Bharatanatyam margam, undoubtedly set to Kalyani raga, the queen herself. This composition is a long love letter from the nayika to her beloved Mannargudi Rajagopala Swamy. It is a masterpiece by Sivananda of the Thanjavur quartet set in roopaka thalam and an undisputed magnum opus, both musically and lyrically. This choreography reflects the traditions and rituals of the Mannargudi temple, depicting the chariot that brings Gopala Swamy and the playful leelas of Krishna.

The charanam, Gaana Vidya Lola, provided ample scope to explore the idea more musically than through movement, a vintage practice of experiencing a musical thani or solo segment by each of the instruments. This was a practice in old-time Bharatanatyam recitals, revisited in this performance.

“We were inspired to personify the delicate beauty of these ragas — Mohana Kalyani, Hamir Kalyani, and Yaman Kalyani — by weaving them together with the emotion that is undeniably the most enchanting: shringara, or love,” Sahitya explained. She drew inspiration for this production from the exploration of a single mother raga and her daughter ragas, akin to the Nirupana system from Sarfoji Maharaja’s court, where 18 compositions formed a repertoire in the same raga. “It took a laborious nine months to create Iti Kalyani. Every single composition of this production was made from scratch. While the idea lingered for a long time, this being my first major project, it was challenging to find starting points. But it was one of the best learning experiences and definitely a brain-racking one. My guru often mentioned that dancers should put effort into understanding thalam, music, poetry, and costuming along with movement to create something from scratch. This project allowed me to begin my practical learning sessions of the theory I had been studying for years,” she adds.

Coming back to the performance, Sahitya subsequently performed Hamir Kalyani, which captures its essence through the beautiful utilisation of both Prati Madhyamam and Sudha Madhyamam, unlike Kalyani, which uses only Prati Madhyamam. To complement the lilting, falling, and vakra (crooked) notes of Hamir Kalyani, the choreography exclusively uses Karanas or Natya Shastra movements, which are 2,200 years old. This ancient movement vocabulary was revived by Dr Padma Subrahmanyam from several temples in Tamil Nadu and from the text of the Natya Shastra, and taught to Sahitya by renowned Vithya Arasu. This tillana, composed by Harikesanallur Muthiah Bhagavatar in thalam Adi, is a rare piece written in praise of Maharaja Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar.

The performance was enriched by the live music ensemble — Sai Venkata Gangadhar on nattuvangam, Veeramaraju Lakhmi Ajay on mridangam, Koundinya Pannala on violin, and Divya Sri Pisupati providing vocals. The last Kalyani of the evening was Yaman Kalyani, a popular raga in both Hindustani and Carnatic music, known for its divinity. Yaman Kalyani beautifully blends shades of both bhakti (devotion) and shringara (love), creating an endless stream of flowing melody. The raga embodies the beauty in the ebb and flow of the river Yamuna, on whose banks Shyam dances his raas. This beautiful bhajan, composed by Swathi Thirunal, speaks of Krishna coming to play or the dance of eternal love — the raas leela. The entire composition is seen through the eyes of the gopis, who eagerly await to dance the raas with Krishna.

“This is my first time performing with a music ensemble that I have pieced together myself. It has been a long-time dream to have a young team of like-minded musicians who are happy to experiment, and that dream has come true with this team,” Sahitya concluded.