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Presenting `Narayaneeyam' through Mohiniyattam

STRIKING A POSE: Suchithra Visweswaran, Mohiniyattam dancer.

Suchithra Visweswaran, Mohiniyattam dancer, is gearing up to present the classical Sanskrit text `Narayaneeyam,' as a Mohiniyattam recital.

Interestingly, the plight of this dancer holds many similarities to that of the author of the spiritual text Melpathur Bhattathiri. Melpathur had written `Narayaneeyam' as an offering to Lord Guruvayurappan for getting rid of his rheumatism.

Ms. Visweswaran also had to take to bed following a knee problem. For almost six months she had to take complete rest. It was during this period that this dancer took to reading `Narayaneeyam.' She read a chapter every day. She thought of the possibility of rendering Narayaneeyam through Mohiniyattam format. She resolved to render `Narayaneeyam' in Mohinyattam if her knees got better.

She chose 11 `slokas' from `Kesadipadam,' the 100th `dasakam,' which contains the head to toe description of Lord Krishna. The first `sloka' of the first `dasakam' is also included in the performance.

The `slokas' have been choreographed in Ragamalika in Chappu Thalam. Malayalam scholar Panmana Ramachandran Nair translated the `slokas' into Malayalam.

Ms. Visweswaran will be accompanied by vocalist Chottanikkara Ajayakumar, who had won admiration by rendering `kacheri' continuously for 37 hours. She will also be supported by instrumentalists, Panavalir Vijaykumar on the Violin, Thripunithura Shyam K. Menon on the Mridangam and Thripunithura Ajith on the Flute.

Ms. Visweswaran said she was greatly indebted to dance teachers, Kalamandalam Sarojini, Kala Vijayan and Dr. Venugopal. She will present the recital on September 20 at Melpathur Auditorium in Guruvayur.

Renu RamAnath

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