Amuktamalyada is an epic poem in Telugu written by the great Vijayanagar emperor Krishna Deva Raya in the sixteenth century. A great warrior, polyglot and scholar, he dedicated it to the female Vaishnavite Tamil poet-saint Andal, who lived around the seventh century. Amuktamalyada is the translation of the Tamil moniker for Andal ‘Chudi kodutha nachiar’ which literally means “the giver of worn garland.”
The legend of Andal is well known in Southern India: she is considered the incarnation of Bhooma Devi; grew up in the temple town of Srivilliputtur, learning about Lord Krishna from her father who was a Vaishnava poet-saint himself. She soon became so besotted with the Deity of Vishnu/Krishna in the temple that she began trying on the garland her father used to make for the Deity, simply to experience the ecstasy of her love for the Lord. Legend has it that Andal later wedded, and finally “merged” with, the main Vishnu deity in the temple in Srirangam.
Dr Janaki Rangarajan’s epic two-hour, non-stop solo dance recital Amuktamalyada at the Christine Strachan theatre in South Oakleigh was a monumental tribute to Andal. The first hour was rendered in the varnam format, with the lyrics from the poem Amuktamalyada set to music in a variety of ragas. The main and recurring theme here was the motif of the bee: Janaki’s abhinaya, nritta and natya were peerless, and her teermanams truly impressive. They were at times reminiscent of Padma Subramaniam’s style – which is not surprising given she was Janaki’s guru.
Moving seamlessly into the second segment, she depicted Andal’s viraha – the intense pain of separation that Andal experienced from being unable to see her beloved Lord Krishna in person. The rendition included a long ninda-stuti – where, in her frustration at the Lord, she not only pours scorn on the Lord and ‘scolds’ him for not responding to her entreaties, she also belittles His avatars in a fit of anger! Janaki portrayed the pangs of separation that Āndāl experiences most exquisitely.
The concluding segment where Andal weds Lord Ranganatha of Srirangam, was aptly performed in the Tillana format, bringing out the joy and revelry of the occasion. It was a sublime two hours watching both the story of Andal unfold and the poetry of Amuktamalyada come to life and take shape under Janaki’s skillful choreography and performance.
Deepa Mani, the founder and artistic director of the Chandralaya School of Dance in Bentleigh must be commended for bringing this amazing artiste over to Australia and organising her one-off performance in Melbourne. For the audience, it was an opportunity of a lifetime.
Deepa Mani has organised a tour by Dr Janaki Rangarajan once in 2019 showcasing another equally original solo production: Unravelled. In Unravelled, she had explored the story of Draupadi, basing her character on a contemporary script written by a theatre artiste V Balakrishnan, that drew inspiration both from Vyasa’s Mahabharata and Indian folk traditions. Melding traditional Bharatanatyam with the spoken word in English, she had experimented with a new way of story-telling and portraying heroic characters from Indian tradition.
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Dr Janaki Rangarajan is certainly in the vanguard of new Bharatanatyam dancers shaping the future of the art form. Not only is she a gifted choreographer – she is part of a new generation bringing a fresh approach to storytelling, challenging entrenched ways of doing dance, embracing modern themes and taking them to new audiences.
Janaki’s doctorate comes from her PhD in molecular genetics, which she did in the USA, where she continues to live. She had pursued Bharatanatyam and genetics for years – until 2004, when she took the bold step to switch over to dancing full time.
An experience like Amuktamalyada comes once in a blue moon. My only regret was not understanding Telugu and being able to follow and savour every line of Amuktamalyada’s verses that were set to music for the dance: that would have elevated my experience to an even higher level!
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