07-30-2007, 06:30 PM
From Pioneer, July 31, 2007
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Revisiting Krishna
Utpal K Banerjee
Krishna in Performing Arts, Shovana Narayan, Shuvi Publications, Rs 2500
Shovana Narayan, the author of the book under review, has impeccable credentials to write such a tome. A well-known Kathak dancer who has acquired honours and encomium in the arts arena, she is also a veteran civil servant ensuring her contribution in important postings. A combination of these two contrasting worlds has equipped her with a rare sensitivity revealed to most of those who come in personal touch with her. Marriage to a seasoned diplomat from Austria has given her the third dimension: Global understanding that comes from her many peripatetic missions. No wonder she has already authored nine books on classical and folk dances, and their links to theatre and other traditional arts.
The present book is an absolute delight and one does agree with the blurb: "Krishna holds eternal fascination or writers, poets, philosophers and artists... He demands love, faith, devotion and surrender." Yet, there is, on the one side, the butter-eating, flute-playing pastoral Krishna - mischievous to the core, associated with demon-killing legends and growing up to be the frolicsome youth having dalliance with milk-maidens of Vrindavan and the blooming Radha. On the other side is the extraordinarily mature Krishna, the fount-head of all wisdom and counsellor to the Kuru clan, who propounded the universal truths of Bhagavat Gita.
Many authorities doubt if these two Krishnas could be one and the same, and not really merged in the popular psyche in the post-Srimad Bahgavat era. The monumental work of Sri Krishna Chaitanya (KK Nair, otherwise) is relevant in this context, which connects and interprets the Krishna-lore in terms of the performing and visual arts, assumed as integrated here.
Barring this important distinction, the book does ample justice to the chosen subject. <b>The intertwining of spirituality, devotion and arts is intense in Indian performing arts, and is established early, before embarking on the divine romance of Radha and outlining the available research on chronology of Radha, beginning from the 10th century. Jayadeva, the court-poet of Bengal king Lakshman Sen in the 12th century, did elevate Radha - in his epic poetry Gita Govinda - to a central deity of worship. It was, however, Andhra saint Nimbarka who took her to Vrindavan and put her on the pedestal of a goddess, not mentioned here.</b>
There is an excellent recapitulation of the semiotics connected with jewellery, coiffeur, forehead-marks, flute and apparel: All linked with Krishna and their significance in the arts. The bhavas (sentiments) and their expressions are well captured in the Vatsalya Rasa of mother Yashoda and Shringaera Rasa (emanating from Madhurya Bhava) that symbolises surrender of the self to the Supreme: As the highest form of bhakti.
<b>The book's strength is its splendid graphics mainly from the genre of Indian classical dances. It is amazing how the abhinaya forms, namely, sattvik (facial expressions), vachik (musical utterances from literature), angik (body-postures) and aharya (adornments and costumes) could widely vary across the genre, but the content would hark back to the myriad Krishna themes in their essence!</b>
Dance, opera and theatre have been treated as a group and given a good coverage. It is a sheer nostalgic experience to find allusions to the classical 'trinity' performing together: Bharati Shivaji (Mohiniyattam), Shovana Narayan (Kathak) and Kiran Sehgal (Odissi) in an obeisance to the Almighty. In the narrative of the performing arts, theatre seems to emerge as the poor cousin, since only Dhanur Yatra of Orissa finds a mention, to the exclusion of the multiple variety of mythological dramas of the entire eastern India.
Music coverage on Krishna motifs is an excellent section. Festivals are another valuable part of the book and the catalogue of the coverage on Krishna-related festivities is quite illuminating.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Revisiting Krishna
Utpal K Banerjee
Krishna in Performing Arts, Shovana Narayan, Shuvi Publications, Rs 2500
Shovana Narayan, the author of the book under review, has impeccable credentials to write such a tome. A well-known Kathak dancer who has acquired honours and encomium in the arts arena, she is also a veteran civil servant ensuring her contribution in important postings. A combination of these two contrasting worlds has equipped her with a rare sensitivity revealed to most of those who come in personal touch with her. Marriage to a seasoned diplomat from Austria has given her the third dimension: Global understanding that comes from her many peripatetic missions. No wonder she has already authored nine books on classical and folk dances, and their links to theatre and other traditional arts.
The present book is an absolute delight and one does agree with the blurb: "Krishna holds eternal fascination or writers, poets, philosophers and artists... He demands love, faith, devotion and surrender." Yet, there is, on the one side, the butter-eating, flute-playing pastoral Krishna - mischievous to the core, associated with demon-killing legends and growing up to be the frolicsome youth having dalliance with milk-maidens of Vrindavan and the blooming Radha. On the other side is the extraordinarily mature Krishna, the fount-head of all wisdom and counsellor to the Kuru clan, who propounded the universal truths of Bhagavat Gita.
Many authorities doubt if these two Krishnas could be one and the same, and not really merged in the popular psyche in the post-Srimad Bahgavat era. The monumental work of Sri Krishna Chaitanya (KK Nair, otherwise) is relevant in this context, which connects and interprets the Krishna-lore in terms of the performing and visual arts, assumed as integrated here.
Barring this important distinction, the book does ample justice to the chosen subject. <b>The intertwining of spirituality, devotion and arts is intense in Indian performing arts, and is established early, before embarking on the divine romance of Radha and outlining the available research on chronology of Radha, beginning from the 10th century. Jayadeva, the court-poet of Bengal king Lakshman Sen in the 12th century, did elevate Radha - in his epic poetry Gita Govinda - to a central deity of worship. It was, however, Andhra saint Nimbarka who took her to Vrindavan and put her on the pedestal of a goddess, not mentioned here.</b>
There is an excellent recapitulation of the semiotics connected with jewellery, coiffeur, forehead-marks, flute and apparel: All linked with Krishna and their significance in the arts. The bhavas (sentiments) and their expressions are well captured in the Vatsalya Rasa of mother Yashoda and Shringaera Rasa (emanating from Madhurya Bhava) that symbolises surrender of the self to the Supreme: As the highest form of bhakti.
<b>The book's strength is its splendid graphics mainly from the genre of Indian classical dances. It is amazing how the abhinaya forms, namely, sattvik (facial expressions), vachik (musical utterances from literature), angik (body-postures) and aharya (adornments and costumes) could widely vary across the genre, but the content would hark back to the myriad Krishna themes in their essence!</b>
Dance, opera and theatre have been treated as a group and given a good coverage. It is a sheer nostalgic experience to find allusions to the classical 'trinity' performing together: Bharati Shivaji (Mohiniyattam), Shovana Narayan (Kathak) and Kiran Sehgal (Odissi) in an obeisance to the Almighty. In the narrative of the performing arts, theatre seems to emerge as the poor cousin, since only Dhanur Yatra of Orissa finds a mention, to the exclusion of the multiple variety of mythological dramas of the entire eastern India.
Music coverage on Krishna motifs is an excellent section. Festivals are another valuable part of the book and the catalogue of the coverage on Krishna-related festivities is quite illuminating.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->