Manasaa Smaraami – Adorations from the Heart

11 August 2008

The Actor’s studio, Bangsar Shopping Centre

By Amira Jamin and Fatin Rasyiqah

As the lights were dimmed and carnatic music filled the air, the dancer, Nimal Raj slowly approaches centre stage with his hands drawn together prayerfully.  Then he goes to a corner of the stage where framed pictures of past successors of The Temple of Fine Arts were laid leaning against oil lamps. After paying his respect to the departed, he went back centre stage to begin his performance, Manasaa Smaraami, a solo bharatanatyam comprised of seven acts. The performance started with a narration of Lord Ganesha's story while the dancer imitates the movements. As soon as the narration finishes, the carnatic music became louder and the movements became faster. With his hands set up as a lotus flower, he began his dance reenacting the narration.

It was our first time watching a bharatanatyam dance performance. We must say that his performance was well-rehearsed. Bharatanatyam includes elements such as head, neck and eye movements. All the nine head movements, four neck movements and eight eye moments were used throughout the dance performance. We could see that Nimal was very focused in completing all these 3 elements. In our view, this dance was performed full of emotion and stamina. In our opinion, the whole performance was outstanding.

The first story was on Lord Ganesha and how he became the Lord Isha after winning a race around the universe with his brother Kartikay.  Watched upon by their parents, Shiva and Pavarti and other gods, Kartikay quickly jumped on his peacock to fly around the universe and to win the race.  But Ganesha took his time and simply walked around his parents, declaring that they are the universe, and they are the source of existence. All the other gods applauded him and he won the race.

Nimal tells another story in the second act.  This time it is about Lord Krishna and his escape from murder from his cruel uncle, King Kamsa.  He grew up in a cowherd family and later took revenge by killing his uncle and succeeding him as king.

Varnam appears in the middle of the dance. It is a type of song in the carnatic music range. A varnam is a long piece; it can be up to 30 minutes or sometimes even close to an hour. It has simple lyrics and consist mostly long words and swara phrases of many different lengths which carry together the essential aspects of the raga. It has two types; Taana Varnam and Pada Varnam.  The varnam is subdivided into various categories; Pallavi, Anupallavi, Mukhtaayi Swaram, Charanam and Chittai Swarams. Pallavi is the primary part and it sung with lyrics. Anupallavi is sung with lyrics and capitulation. Mukhtaayi Swaram and Chittai Swarams on the other hand, sung completely with syllables. Lastly, Charanam is sung with lyrics. In Manasaa Smaraami, Varnam was performed by The Temple of Fine Arts Penang orchestra team. The orchestra team consisted of 5 members. One of the members is the wife of the dancer, Nimal Raj.

Lord Murugan, or also known as Kartikay is the scientist of the gods; he rides on a peacock, the killer of serpents. Murugan was born by the seed of the great god that was dropped into the river. The six goddesses Krtikkas adored the new born so much that they quarreled over the new born to nurse him, to satisfy the six goddess, he grew six heads and grew up under their guidance, soon after, he slay the demon Taraka whom Lord Brahma had granted immunity to everyone except for Taraka’s son which led to Murugan's birth in the first place. Nimal’s expression was priceless; his movements were filled with different kinds of emotions while he performed this part of the dance as he played as the Lord Murugan.

Lord Shiva is the supreme god in the Shaiva tradition of Hinduism. He is the destroyer of the world, he is responsible for the change inform of death and destruction. His first wife Sati and the second was Pavarti. Shiva’s personal appearance includes a tridents that represent the three guna’s and snakes that shows that he is beyond death and energy. He rides a bull and is often seen clad in tiger skin representing the mind. Shiva’s dance represents the destruction and creation of the universe and reveals the cycle of death, birth and rebirth. This is the last part of the story; the ending took quite long enough for us to study his movements and steps. As first-timers, it was not easy for us to understand the dance as it was classically narrated in Indian. However, it was not hard for us to appreciate and we understood why the audiences gave their best clap during the end of every dance story.

Before concluding the performance, a tribute to the late guru Swami Shantanand Saraswathi of Temple of Fine Arts was presented. It was to show the appreciation towards the education and experience that he had given in his life.  He played tribute by slowly dancing back to the corner of the stage where framed pictures of past successors of The Temple of Fine Arts were laid. He had his hands drawn together; it seemed as if he was praying for the past successors.

The final part was a Thillana, a pure dance (nritta) when the virtuosity of the music is imitated in the complex footwork and hypnotizing poses of the dancer. Nimal keeps to rhythm accurately and makes dancing look simple to the rest of us. The Thillana is known as the hardest dance because it requires pure stamina and determination.

Towards the end of the show every single one of the audience applauded the spectacular performance by Nimal Raj. Nimal bowed and expressed his appreciation to the multiracial audience, his family members, and his wife who played the veena, his students and last but not least, the late guru Swami Shantanand Saraswathi.