The dancers were ready, so were the musicians and the audience was longing for the performance to begin. The temple dance festival, Gudi Sambaraalu, might have started in the city at the Sri Venkateshwara Swamy Temple, Shaikpet on Saturday, but when audiences entered the premises of the temple, they were immediately transported back into time.
The festival is hosted by Paramparaa foundation, founded by Dr Srinagi B. Rao and Shashi Reddy, to bring back the decade-long tradition of performing art forms in temple premises. Srinagi says, “Our vision is to revive the heritage and art in Telangana by hosting various performing arts programmes at old temples. These days, people don’t focus much on culture; our aim is to bring back the attention through such events.”
Day one of the festival that was hosted at the Sri Venkateshwara Swamy Temple saw a splendid performance by danseuse Shama Bhate whose production Mahabharata Reinvented was staged. The performance by 30 artistes was a narrative of the Kurukshetra and the fates of the Kauravas and their Pandava cousins.
Re-inventing the past : Dancers during danseuse Shama Bhate’s dance production Mahabharata Reinvented
Senior artiste Anupama Kylash who has been practising Vilasini Natyam, a temple dance of the Devadasis, is more than happy to be part of such a festival.
“Decades ago, the only social platform available was the temple where dance and music performances were held,” says Anupama, who will work on a production that will deal with the philosophy of the four forms of Lord Vishnu.
“For years now, we have had performances in auditoriums and stages, but here is where we get the real feel of a performance. In fact, we need to go back to hosting performances in temples,” she opines.
Artist Surupa Sen, whose Odissi performance was held in the city on Sunday, says, “Our country has many art forms, but somewhere there exists a disconnect between people and performance. Through such events, people are brought closer to the art forms and that is why such festivals are of great importance.”
