Destination Thanjavur.
Chidambaram's dance schedule looks less exciting for me today, Saturday.
So we hit the road at 3 p.m. to get to Thanjavur.
A road trip is always educating.
The Kollidam is dry save for pools of water dotting the sands.
But the pockmarks in the countryside in what used to be cultivable land are the plotted colonies. Sirkazhi Nagar greets us after we leave behind Vaitheeswaran Temple
It takes us over two hours to get to Thanjavur. The chaos of the town remains as ever. As is the entrance to the Brihadeeswarar Temple. For most people, this Heritage Site is a picnic spot. And the gentle elephant here amuses many people.
It is Day Four of the Natyanjali at Thanjavur. For some reason, Sivaratri was observed on March 5 and the festival organisers fell in line. Nothing can beat the setting for dance inside this campus. The mantap which protects the giant Nandi and the magnificent gopuram get a life of their own as the crimson-red-pink skies are brushed by the setting sun. And when Dr. Janaki Rangarajan from the USA, a sishya of Dr. Padma Subrahmanyam takes the stage, the setting is magical.
The Natyanjali team here takes some effort to publicise the dance festival locally. Thanjavur, like Madurai, is full of tourists the year round. This evening, in the audience, are a good number of foreign tourists. And the evening's schedule offers a variety of dances.
The Kuchipudi recital of dancers from Vijaywada impresses. We couldn't make out that the main performer, dressed as a female, was Ajay Kumar. Not until emcee Muthukumar invites the artistes to receive the mementos.
Ajay Kumar is based in Vijayawada and has been learning Kuchipudi from the wellknown guru K. V. Satyanarayana of Eluru, since the age of four. He is now pursuing doctoral studies at the Telugu University.
Ajay runs his own school in Vijayawada and is a busy performer.
His brother Shrinivas who does the nattuvangam says Ajay is well known in Andhra Pradesh for the Kuchipudi Roopanu Rupam. "He plays the female roles which are integral to this dance, very well," says Shrinivas as Ajay blesses two young dancers from Chennai.
We would have liked to stay on till the end at the Brihadeswarar Temple (the last dance is scheduled for 9.45 p.m. on all evenings of the BrihanNatyanjali) but we must move on.
We stop over at Kumbakonam. Earlier in the evening, on our way to Thanjavur, we had taken the bypass road and lingered on the bridge over a tributary of the Cauvery river which was full and in flow. My colleague who was handling the camera has fond memories of this place He had attended a undergrad course at the College of Fine Arts here and this campus is just located off the banks of the river.
A packed yard inside the Sri Kumbeswarar Temple is engrossed in a Sathriya dance-drama presented by Ramakrishna Talukdar and his troupe from Guwahati, Assam. The Sangeet Natak Akademi is doing the right thing by sponsoring a few performing groups from others parts of the country to travel here and take part in the Natyanjali circuit. People are keen to watch them perform. On Sunday, Talukdar and Co. will perform at Chidambaram.
Kumbakonam's Natyanjali team now knows what it is to manage a festival. It has got better over the years and led by G. R. Moopanar, and with more sponsors, the festival has got bigger too.
