Rama Katha - a splendid evening of Bharatanatyam - Singapore - 2014

Rama Katha - a splendid evening of Bharatanatyam
- Suresha

Children suffer for no fault of theirs when their parent(s) are convicted. While law punishes the criminal, the family is stigmatized. The innocent children are left to fend for themselves and forced to lead a life of shame and neglect. SOCARE IND is a unique NGO with focus on rehabilitating the Children of lifetime convicts in Indian Prisons.

In aid of SOCARE IND, Aakash Ganga - The Foundation for Indian Fine Arts in association with Xcel2Pinnacle Pte Ltd and Hindu Endowments Board (HEB) presented Rama Katha –“Rama Katha - The Story of Rama”, a Bharatanatyam production by an acclaimed Bharatanatyam exponent Narthaka Nipuna Sathyanarayana Raju on 24th Oct 2014 at PGP Hall, Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple, Singapore.

The programme commenced with Sathyanarayana Raju making a sedate entry for Melukovayya, a Krithi by Saint Poet Tyagaraja.  The artiste then took the audience through a lively journey through the various characters of Ramayana. The artiste chose to focus on individual characters rather than on different episodes of the Ramayana.   Sathyanarayana Raju excelled in all his characterizations, and shifted from Kausalya to Rama, from Sita to Manthara, from Guha to Hanuman with great ease and ingenuity.   Sathyanarayana Raju truly represented all the wonderful aspects of the solo Bharata Natyam tradition, with effective nritta and emotive abhinaya at appropriate junctures paying attention to small nuances.

Usha R.K. who has conceptualized the program must be commended for her wonderful creative efforts.  The team of musicians from India, Vidwan DS Srivatsa (vocal), Ms. Shakuntala Prabhath (Nattuvangam), Vidwan Lingaraju (Mridangam), Vidwan Raghunandan (Flute) were excellent with their musical support for the Bharata Natyam recital.  Songs were chosen from different composers and some of them such as Pattabhishekha Vellalo were especially composed for this program by D.S. Srivatsa.  Ragas such as Bowli, Kapi, Anandabhairavi and many others were chosen suitably to enhance the appropriate sthayi bhavas and rasotpatti of the incidents and roles being portrayed.   The effective use of lighting by Surya Narayana, another acclaimed dancer himself enhanced the performance of the event. Mrs. Paramita Tripathi, Deputy High Commissioner of India in Singapore was the guest of honour for this event. The event concluded with a unique style of vote of thanks in the form of dance, by presented by Guru Ms. Maalika Girish Panikker, founding director of Aakash Ganga.
Mrs. Sandhya, a leading event manager in Bengaluru, India & Mr. G.T. Mani the well-known compere from Singapore hosted the show. The audience responded with enthusiasm and applause to many favorite songs such as Yaaro Ivar yaaro, Thumaka Chalata Ramachandra, Bhajaman Rama Charan Sukhdayi and Allinodalu Rama. The soul-stirring abhinaya for some of the characters of Ramayana – Dasharatha and Rama’s devotees Guha and Shabari as well as hunch backed maid of Kaikaiyi touched the hearts of the audience, who gave a spontaneous standing ovation.  This evening of Bharata Natyam proved why Ramayana will always continue to be a favorite among artistes and audiences.

Mr. Venkatanathan, Socare Ind’s secretary who attended the event was touched and overwhelmed by the philanthropic gesture of the organizers and audience alike.

About the Artist:

Sathyanarayana Raju is one of the leading male dancers of India and has carved a niche for himself in the field of classical dance. Endowed with a pleasing personality and impressive stage presence and having been trained under Sangeet Naatak Academy awardee, the late Guru Narmada of Shakuntala Nrityalaya, Sathya has won accolades, both from the press and public alike. He is an 'A' TOP artist of Doordarshan, India. Sathyanarayana Raju has been the recipient of many prestigious awards including ‘Kempegowda Award’ by the Government of Karnataka in 2013 and the very recent ‘Narthaka Nipuna Award’ by the Association of Bharatanatyam Artistes of India (ABAI) in 2014. He has extensively performed within India and abroad. This is the 8th performance of Rama Katha in India & abroad.


suresha bhatta, rama katha, satyanarayana raju, bharatanatyam, singapore, aakash ganga, nov2014, (C), review, contributor, do not copy, copyrights acknowledged