‘Swarams,’ ‘jathis’ and ‘varnams’ set the beat for ‘Nrithya Utsav,’ a dance festival part of the weekly Tourist Cultural Festival at Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple on Saturday.
A total of 19 young women from Bahrain performed Bharatanatyam, a classical form of dance from south India, for the deities at the temple.
Safeya Gani (16) said that a lot of effort had been put in order to coordinate and practise for the performance.
“We practised for about three months prior to the performance. Everyone worked well together,” she said.
Hansul Gani, her mother and founder of Brindavani Music and Dance Academy in Bahrain, said that performing in this holy place was a dream come true.
“We are from Madurai and settled there (Bahrain) later. Collaboration with the Tourism Department, district administration and Shrishti Dance School, Texas, gave us additional support and confidence,” she said.
Students from age groups ranging from six to 16, performed varnams, padams and danced to slokas such as ‘bho shambo’ and ‘ankikam.’ An enthusiastic crowd of about 150 people cheered the dancers at the end of each performance.
Shree Lakshmanan, founder of Shrishti Dance School from Texas, United States, whose student performed at the event said there was nothing more humbling than performing at the Meenakshi Temple as dance was their offering to the Goddess.
‘Spirituality’
“At the temple, one need not bother about an audience. Dance here means breaking the mundane technical routine and experiencing spirituality,” she said.
P. Usha, who watched the dance programmes, said she was pleased with the performance.
The art continued to be noticed abroad due to the interest shown by international students. “We need more such performances,” she also added.
