Preethi Sriram
By Preethi Sriram
How does mother manifest in one’s life?
For instance, the cow, which is a giver of milk, a nourishment, is seen as a form of the mother.
When thinking of the earth, many cultures see the earth as a mother. Earth brings forth life.
There is a painting from Mexican artist Frida Kahlo called “The Love Embrace of the Universe, the Earth, Myself, Diego, and Senor Xolotl.” The painting is a very vivid picture of how Frida Kahlo viewed the earth, as a woman, embracing her and all life. The mother is within the clouds and is of different colors of night and day and bearing life forms.
Earth bores a variety of diverse life forms and bears the weight of its beings upon her.
Mother Earth is a giver; There are trees to provide shade, fruits for nourishment, beautiful bodies of water to keep us cool. Mother Earth is sustenance.
Some cultures believe that Mother springs forth language, and thus the mother is worshipped for giving us various ways to communicate.
Mother rotates so we can see the variety of life.
In the daytime, the glorious luminance of the sun can be seen. And she rotates so then we can see the night and the stars and take a rest under the infinite sky.
Did you feel that beat?
Where is that humming sound coming from?
In science, it was found that every 26 seconds, the earth is sending a “heartbeat.” Mother Earth is pulsing with her music.
Come rejoice in those beats of the mother!
Life comes from Earth and goes back to Earth. From Mother Ganga we come, and so we shall go back.
In the Ramayana, Mother Seetha in her pain, is embraced and was nurtured to go back to her loving Mother Earth.
Within Indian poetry and music, various venerations of the forms of Mother can be found.
The varnam is one of the centerpieces of a Bharatanatyam performances. A translation of the word varnam is “color.” The varnam showcases the various colors of the expertise of the dancer as well as the musicians. The musicians bring about various “colors” through the various instruments used like the mridangam, flute, veena. The vocalist and the nattavangam artists hypnotize with the various sollakatus or rhythmic bols.
For the dancer, their “colors” are showcased through their expertise of the nritta and the physical aspects of the pure dance through the adavus, as well as through their nrithya, which includes the storytelling portion of the dance and utilizes abhinaya or expressions that help bring emotion to the storytelling for the audience. The combination of the music and the dance brings about the rasa of the varnam.
One well known varnam is called Mathay Maladjwaja Pandyasan Jathay. The writer is Harikeshanallur Muthiah Bhagavathar who was born in now what is known as the state of Tamil Nadu. The varnam is well known and has been sung by famous artists such as M.S Subhalakshmi and T.M Krishna.
This specific varnam is beautiful, as it is a Bhakthi Varnam, or a devotional composition to the Mother Goddess.
The varnam first starts with three speeds of a jathi or known as Trikala Jathi. The jathi showcases pure dance, or the nritta of the dancer, and this is performed at the slow, medium and fast speed.
In the Purvaranga or first half of the dance, the lines in the Pallavi are “Mathay Maladwaja Pandyasan Jathay, Mathanga Vadana Guha.” The translation of this is “Oh Mother! You are born to Maladwaja of the Pandya Kingdom and are the mother to Ganesha and Murugan.”
This phrase can be sung in numerous ways, and the dancer will bring forth the Pada Artha Abhinaya, or the literal meaning of the phrase as well as Vachika Artha Abhinaya to give a wider depth of the phrase through the storytelling portion of the dance.
The second part of the Purvaranga, following the Pallavi, is the Anupallavi. The line in the anupallavi is “Shatodhari, Shankari, Chamudeshwari, Chandrakaladhari, Thaiyay Gauri.” This line describes some of the physical manifestations of the Goddess and her characteristics. She is slim, the wife of Shiva, the slayer of the demons, she wears the moon as her ornament, and she is luminous of complexion. The dancer can portray this line in various ways, through literal translation as well as through artistic interpretation and guidance of the guru.
The last part of the Purvaranga is the Mukthaiyi Swaram. In the varnam, more characteristics are described of Mother’s personality.
Datha Sakala Kalah Nipoona Chatura. Mother is skilled in all arts. Datha Vividha Matha Samaya Samarasa. She is equal to people of all faiths. Datha Sulabha Hridaya Madura Vachana. She is soft-hearted and speaks sweet words. Sa Rasa Ruchirathara Swaralaya Geetha. Sukhada nija bhava. Rasika Vara datha.
Her notes and tempos used in music provide constant emotional pleasure to the devotee. Mahishura Natha. She is the slayer of the demon of Mahisha. Nalvathi Sri Krishna Rajendra, thaye sadha pore, mahitha harikesha Manohara sadaya. She is Mother of the kings, worshipped by Harikesha. Beautiful, and compassionate.
The final part of the varnam is the charanam. The lines in this are Shymay! Oh Mother who is of Dark complexion. Sakala Bhuvana Sarva Bhaumay. Sashi Mandala Madhyaga. She is the ruler and center of the universe.
From the varnam, we can experience the eternal presence of that shakthi pervading all around us.
Whether we use the language of the technical to call it stardust, or the emotional/poetic to call it Mother, we all are made from some essence.
Our physical manifestations are a form of Her shakthi or energy.
We are in this form, so we can work to attain enlightenment that we are beyond form. We are interconnected.
It is important not to forget this fertile land we live on and to constantly remember how to be kind to the Loving Mother, of the soil, of the water, of the air, and all the forms of life brought forth: our brothers and sisters.
The beautiful weather of this season is a wonderful time for contemplation, celebration, and remembrance of the bountiful and diverse blessings that spring forth from Mother, Earth, and Universe.
This series of articles is about the journey and unique insights of an adult dance student learning classical Indian dance and the experiences and perspective of taking classical Indian dance as both an American and an Indian.
Preethi Sriram is a classical dance enthusiast and lifelong learner of dance. Contact: srirampreethi@hotmail.com
