Kuvempu: Ravana and Mareecha
I was truly blessed to witness two unique Ramayana presentations- last evening, and this morning. This eternal epic is the epitome of the Hindu Dharma narrative. No wonder Saint Thyagaraja gave his all to Sri Rama.
The first one was a five hour epic stage production based on Rashtra Kavi Kuvempu's magnum opus, Sri Ramayana Darshanam.
Students of world literature will wonder how such a mahakavya ever came to be written in the 20th century. The equivalent of Kalidasa to Kannada, Kuvempu has extended himself as a true seer here.
The stage production from Rangayana Mysore (a famous theatre university since 1970s) has everything. Epic dialogues delivered by actors on the stage, eight track sound with great Hindustani classical music and lots of Indian percussion, much theatrics and even dance. The photo above shows Ravana with Mareecha. Mareecha was shown as a tantalising Tantrik kind of character, and he literally transformed himself to a magical deer on stage. (I was too distracted to take pics).
The Kuvempu version takes the Ramayana story to the next level:
Rama apologises to Vali.
Ravana confesses his mistake to Mandodari before the final battle. He is only too confident of his valour to stop fighting.
And finally, Rama also enters the Agni pariksha along with Sita!
A stage adaptation of this immortal work was considered well nigh impossible. Hats off to the masters of stagecraft, music and poetry who made this possible.
First time being presented, all over Karnataka.
It was held in Ravindra Kalakshetra.
Sriram Kendra: Sita Swayamvar
The second production lasted over two hours. Held in Chowdiah hall, it was presented by the world famous Sriram Kala Kendra.
With impeccable dances, wonderful costumes, and its crowning glory, the music by Anil Biswas and others, this is a seamless 2 hour stage presentation like a ballet. Performed every year for the past 62 years, mainly in Delhi.
No words are spoken by actors. Acrobatic, beautiful, dancers recreate Ramayana in all its glory.
Both shows were houseful. And the audiences simply lived in Ramayana.
Shows all is well with our culture!
