This upcoming dance festival in Chennai is rooted in Bhakti and self-inquiry

When Bharatanatyam dancer Divya Nayar curated Anubhuti, a three-day dance festival that opens in Chennai this week, she knew she wasn’t interested in a conventional showcase of classical form. Instead, she wanted to create a space where introspection, inner search, and the personal dimensions of Bhakti could take centre stage.

“Anubhuti is something I have always wanted to do, a dance festival that has been organised by a dancer, because we often understand the struggles of wanting this opportunity to present work and not having the opportunity many a times,” says Divya. The many performances at the festival include one from her school, Dakshina.

It is not surprising that Anubhuti—which means “inner realisation” or “lived experience”,—has taken shape in this way. For Divya, the festival is both an offering and an extension of her dance journey, one shaped by solitude, discipline, and deep questioning.

“I come from a spiritual household,” she says. “There was never a strict boundary between dance, prayer, or reading philosophy. It all flowed into each other.”

Her immersion in Bhakti literature—particularly the works of mystic poets like Andal and Mirabai—has long been central to her practice. But curating Anubhuti gave her the opportunity to go further.

To bring together voices that resonated with this depth, many artistes across the country had applied. One of them is Kathak dancer Raveena Singh, whose performance explores the intersections between Sikh philosophy, the poetry of Kabir, and the compositions of Annamacharya. Trained in the Jaipur gharana under Guru Ram Kumar, Raveena brings more than two decades of Kathak training to her practice. Yet her engagement with Bhakti has been less about repertoire and more about reconciling her personal sense of spirituality with the language of her art.

“As a Sikh, we don’t do idol worship or rituals,” Raveena explains. “So whatever I know of Krishna or Vishnu comes from Kathak. But my inner connection to faith begins with Ek Omkar, with the teachings of Guru Nanak. That’s my first language of prayer.” In her piece, Raveena weaves together verses from Kabir—whose works are found in the Guru Granth Sahib—with Annamacharya’s compositions, creating what she describes as a “bridge of intent” between two worlds. “They may be in different languages and forms, but the longing is the same,” she says.

This sense of inner congruence, of returning to a place of stillness and authenticity, is something Divya hopes the festival can offer both artists and audiences. “I didn’t want it to be just a festival where you come and perform any piece, but something related to a theme, so that when an audience comes to watch, they feel like they’re watching an entire show as opposed to, say, three or four dancers just presenting and leaving,” she says.

That desire for quietude is also mirrored in the format of the festival. The performances are set in an intimate venue, and each artiste is given the freedom to present their work without restriction on duration or form. There are no simultaneous performances or competing events—just one artiste at a time, inviting the audience into their inner world.

For Raveena, this openness was key. “When I saw the call for applications, I just knew I had to apply,” she says. “I had already been thinking in this direction—about faith, about where my dance and my beliefs intersect. This gave me a framework to really explore that.” Despite some nerves about presenting Kathak in a predominantly Bharatanatyam space, she remains hopeful. “Chennai audiences are informed. They know how to recognise depth when they see it.”

Indeed, depth seems to be the defining spirit of Anubhuti. The festival invites its audience to sit with the many textures of devotion—not as a performance to be consumed, but as an experience to be felt. For Divya, this is where true Bhakti begins.

INR 350 onwards. April 25-26. 6.30 pm to 8.30 pm. At Bharathiya Vidya Bhavan, Mylapore.

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