Dancing for the devout in Himalayas

Rishikesh International Pyramid Meditation Centre celebrated Buddha Purnima with a cultural festival at Rishikesh-Badrinath and Kedarnath, and they invited Srivari Padalu Dance Academy based out of West Marredpally, Secunderabad to perform for the event.

The team from the academy started their journey to perform amidst the sacred Himalayas on May 12 towards Rishikesh and reached there the next day. The Beautiful Ganga Harathi at the Triveni Sangamam was followed by the dance performance, which was viewed by lakhs of pilgrims there.

They started with 'Pushpanjali', a salutation to the lord of dance Nataraja, the Guru, the musicians and the audience. 'Pushpanjali' in Amruthavarshini ragam, Adi talam, was sung by TV Srinivas, and was composed by Bangalore T Srinivas. The dance was choreographed by Rama Devi Nalla.

The second performance was 'Maha Ganesha Pancharatnam' which is a sloka, composed by Adi Sankara in the 8th Century. It is addressing Lord Ganesha, who is also known as the destroyer of obstacles. 'Maha Ganesha Pancharatnam' was presented in Ragmalika ragam, Adi talam.

This was followed by 'Jathiswaram', a pure dance presentation, devoid of any abhinaya (emotions), in which, intricate sequences are fused with repetitive musical notes. The dance deals with the execution of adavus (basic steps) and mudras (hand gestures).

The piece was presented in Saveri ragam, Adi talam. The last piece for the day was 'Sree Mahisasura Mardhini Stotram'- a popular devotional stotra of Goddess Durga written by Guru Adi Sankaracharya.

On 14 May, the group started off to Badrinath Temple, which was a difficult ghat road journey of 13 hours. The temperature was -2 to -8 degrees. The strenuous journey was followed by a performance (on May 15) in the presence of lakhs of pilgrims. It was like Lord Shiva gave them the energy to perform in that cooled.

"During the performance we did not experience the extreme cold climate, but immediately after the program was finished, we started to shiver and felt the energy given to us for the performance by the Great Lord Shiva present there.

The temple CEO then presented us the mementos and the Badrinath prasad. He then personally took us all for the special darshans of the Lord. The extraordinary feeling, we got by performing in the sacred place will remain special in our lives," says Rama Devi.

At Badrinath Temple they performed 'Shiva Thandavam'. It is described as a vigorous dance that is the source of the cycle of creation, preservation and dissolution. While the Rudra Tandava depicts his violent nature, first as the creator and later as the destroyer of the universe, even of death itself; the Ananda Tandava depicts him enjoying. In Shaiva Siddhanta tradition, Shiva as Nataraja is considered the supreme lord of dance. Ramadevi's students Simritha, Aakruthi and Kaavya Sri performed the dance.

On May 16 the group was scheduled to perform at Kedarnath, but extreme colk climate prevented them. However, it was a great experience shares Rama Devi, "The three programs were organised by Pyramid Yoga & Dance Academy - PYDA International, Vishakhapatnam CEO Padma garu, and we are very thankful to her for giving us this wonderful opportunity."