Ancient splendour

A few days ago a classical dance team from Hyderabad visited the environs of the ancient caves at Moghalrajpuram in Vijaywada. The group, consisting of Raisa Luther (Bharatanatyam), Mythili Anoop (Mohiniyattam), Sindhuja (Kuchipudi), Mitha Vinay (Kathak) and Himabindu (Kuchipudi) under the aegis of Natya Swara, performed at the Siddhendra Yogi festival at Kuchipudi village; the Cultural Centre Vijaywada of Malaxmi group of Industries sought blessings of one of the earliest known sculptures of Lord Nataraja carved above the cave entrance.

Though fragmented, the image chiselled with exquisite artistry dating to the fourth century radiated with the energy of dance. The artistes performed to applause in the presence of stalwarts like Gurus Vedantam Radheshyam and Pasumarthi Kesava Prasad who had organised the festival.

The recital of the group at the Cultural Centre of Vijaywada, which is the concept of Harishchandra Prasad, Chairman of Malaxmi group was facilitated by eminent scholar and Centre CEO Dr Siva Nagi Reddy and was graced by the presence of Bonda Umamaheswara Rao, MLA Vijaywada Central.