Gayathri Vaishnava Janato
It was almost 17 years ago that I attended Gayathri’s arangetram under her guru Dr Chandrabhanu OAM, and reviewed it for IndianLink. She performed solo again on 28 February at the Darebin Arts Centre this time on a theme closer to her heart: ‘Vaishnava Janato: Stories of Devotion’.
In 2024, Gayathri had embarked on a project to find ways to help the next generation of Indian and Hindu feel a deeper connection to their cultural roots. In this process, she had come to the realise that telling stories was the best way to inspire them. From time immemorial, stories have been medium through which knowledge, values, culture, beliefs and traditions have been handed down.
This idea led Gayathri to launch a podcast for children called the ‘The Kathā Project’ in 2024, to retell stories from the Puranas and Itihasas in a way that would educate children while keeping them entertained. The aim was simple yet meaningful: educate while entertaining and reconnect young listeners with their cultural heritage. Gayathri Vaishnava Janato
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The dance production Vaishnava Janato emerged as a natural extension of this initiative. If stories could inspire through words, Gayathri believed they could do the same through movement. The characters she had been narrating suddenly found a new life on stage. She asked herself what makes a story powerful. Is it the characters, the plot, or the lessons within? In the end, she concluded that it is the emotional journey. When the audience feels what the characters feel joy, victory, fear, guilt or betrayal the story becomes unforgettable.
So, with the guidance of her guru Dr. Chandrabhanu, she embarked on a creative journey to bring to life the most popular and cherished stories from the Hindu Puranas and Itihasas; to re-tell these tales through the medium of Bharatanatyam for Melbourne audiences. Vaishnava Janato was the culmination of that endeavour.
The evening’s programme began with a traditional invocation to Lord Ganesha, Siddhi Vinayaka in ragam mohana kalyani; Gayathri portrayed the portly Ganesha and his weakness for modakas aptly and with humour, as well as the story of how he struck the moon with one of his tusks that he broke off – from whence began the waxing and waning of the moon.
The pièce de résistance was a marathon item: Swati Tirunal’s composition Bhavayami Raghuramam in ragamalika which gave Gayatri full scope to display her abhinaya (acting) and natya (story-telling) skills to the hilt: the entire Ramayana in seven khands (chapters) was performed with superlative ability and theatrical prowess, and Gayathri excelled at teasing out each character in the epic with extraordinary finesse, whether it was Kaikeyi, Ravana or Hanuman.
After the interval, Gayathri turned her attention to the Mahabharata and Lord Krishna. She performed several episodes from the epic, including Draupadi vastraharan (disrobing) and Karna’s defeat and death in the battlefield. Lord Narasimha’s avatar as Prahlad’s saviour was also depicted, as well as the story of Gajendra moksha– with Gayathri portraying every character with an authenticity and poignancy that brought them to life on the stage.
The libretto, a composition of Anantharama Deekshitar and Poochi Srinivasa Iyengar in ragamalika again, lent itself to some great choreography by her guru Dr Chandrabhanu. Bhavayami Gopalabalam (by Annamayya) was the next piece which extolled the qualities of baby Krishna – once again, Gayathri’s abhinaya held the audience in a trance. This was followed by a javali and a thillana, also themed on Krishna. Gayathri’s Vaishnava Janato
Gayathri set out to tell stories through dance, she achieved that goal convincingly. The narratives she chose and the way she embodied them held the audience captivated for more than three hours.
The live musical ensemble further elevated the performance. Leading the group was the distinguished vocalist Sri Nandakumar Unikrishnan from India. Dr Chandrabhanu and Ambika Docherty provided flawless nattuvangam, while Balasri Rasiah delivered a superb performance on the mrudangam. Among the instrumentalists, violinist V Suresh Babu once again demonstrated the excellence Melbourne audiences have come to expect from him. Flautist Subramanya Sastry added lyrical depth to the compositions. Completing the ensemble was the young veena player Kasthuri Sahathevan, daughter of Melbourne musician Sivaganga Sahadevan, whose playing added a graceful richness to the overall soundscape.
READ ALSO: When Nandini Menon took Bharatanatyam into the Dreamtime
