Grand legacy of great gurus
SHILPA SEBASTIAN R.
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The Shankara Foundation has hit paydirt with the entire dance collection of the legendary U.S. Krishna Rao and Chandrabhaga Devi going to it. It will be part of the foundation.
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A RARE TREASURE Dance-related collection of the late U.S. Krishna Rao and Chandrabhaga Devi, the couple which took up dance when it was considered taboo for the upper classes. (Below) Art historian Tara Kashyap will be setting up the Poorvaranga museum
U.S. Krishna Rao and Chandrabhaga Devi — who can ever forget these names that were synonymous with Bharatanatya? This couple who took to the form when this classical art was considered "taboo" particularly "to Brahmins", have left behind a huge legacy.
The legendary couple not only choreographed many dance pieces, but also trained several musicians for dance. Krishna Rao authored several books on dance and to this day, his dance dramas like The Temptation of Buddha, Rani Shantala, Geeta Govinda and Kama Dahana remain etched in the minds of dance patrons. Their dance school Maha Maya in Bangalore has trained thousands of students in Bharatanatya, many of whom are internationally acclaimed dancers such as Sudharani Raghupathy, Sonal Mansingh and Kala Bharati to name a few.
It was Guru Krishna Rao's last wish that all their dance-related collection be donated to the Shankara Foundation's Poorvaranga Museum, which is in it's initial stage of construction.
Unique venture
Rashmi Hegde, founder of Shankara Foundation and a student of the late dancer couple, says: "Poorvaranga Museum of performing arts is a unique venture of Centre of Excellence for the Arts. It will be a full-fledged museum devoted to the preservation, protection and perpetuation of the collection belonging to the veteran artistes. The objective of the museum is also to document the contributions of the veteran performers in training, choreography, productions, research and innovation. Even before the structure was ready, Shankara Foundation inherited a cultural wealth which could form the nucleus of Poorvaranga museum collection."
Poorvaranga is planned to also have a gallery dedicated to the Aharya, a display of the different styles of costume designing, jewellery, coiffeur and props. Shankara Foundation is "grateful to Guru Krishna Rao for entrusting his precious collection to their care, which is an honour," says an emotional Rashmi, who had arranged an informal function on Guru Poornima (July 21) where Jayadev, the eldest son of the late guru, officially handed over the works of his parents spanning a career of 60 glorious years in Bharatanatya. "It was a day of reckoning for his students and the rest of us who had gathered here to pay homage to him," says Rashmi.
The collection consists of cymbals used by the late guru during his classes, his musical instruments, photographs, music spools, records of dance productions, books on choreography, archival material, citations, awards, certificates, gifts, mementos and more. These will be documented and preserved for posterity by Dr. Tara Kashyap, a scholar, a museum expert and an art historian.
"There is a slight delay in the construction of Poorvaranga due to technical reasons. In all probability, it will be ready by December 2005, after which it will be open to the public," said Dr. Tara.
Each item from the collection will be treasured in the museum and will be documented with the help of the latest technology such as digitalisation, photography, scanning, preparing CDs and so on, adds Tara, who firmly believes that this is a unique contribution to the world of arts by the Shankara Foundation.
The activities of the museum, says Tara, will be closely monitored by the Centre of Excellence for the Arts, an academic wing of Shankara Foundation. Facilities will be created for research, documentation, and publication work in the related fields by scholars and academicians.
The academic activities will also include a series of orientation programmes in culture and heritage with a view to sensitise people towards the arts. "Prof. U.S. Krishna Rao and Chandrabhagadevi were great visionaries. Their contribution in the field of art will remain forever a source of inspiration for the younger generation of artists, researchers and scholars," says Tara.
The Shankara Foundation, barely a year old has truly turned into a historical place by inheriting these treasures. Shankara Foundation can be contacted on 22719512/30902689.
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