What makes Kshetrayya’s padams a valuable resource for dancers
A legion of composers and poets with a gift of sublime vision and enduring devotion to a chosen deity have breathed aesthetic flavour into compositions that have remained in the popular imagination of pious Indians through the ages. Musicologist, scholar and author Kanakam Devaguptapu recently launched a book Kshetrayya Padams, is an admirable effort to not only translate the original ‘Kshetrajnulu’ by Prof. Veturi Anandamurthy into English, but also supplement it with information that serves to make it a valuable resource for dancers. Thus, he became Kshetrayya, ‘the one who realises that this body, the kshetra, is perishable.’ From Varadayya to Kshetrayya The book also makes a mention of Mohanangi, the devadasi with whom he shared a life-long bond. The book also features ‘Vadaraka popove’, a padam that Kshetrayya had left incomplete before his travels only to return to finish it since no one in his absence had been able to do so. “The richness of raga bhava that his music offers and the rasanubhava that can be experienced in the presentation of his padams makes Kshetrayya timeless and matchless”, writes Kanakam Devaguptapu.
Discover Related
Kritagnata 2025 brings four male dancers and four classical dance forms together
How a koothu performance proved to be a social leveller
How Kalakshetra’s ‘Kannappar Kuravanji’ continues to hold sway
How Sandeep Narayan’s concert transcended sonic and lyrical boundaries
Celebrating Kali: The goddess of time and timelessness through dance
Malavika Mohanan Considers ‘Theyyam’ Special Because Of THIS Reason
The Dhananjayans trace their creative journey
Reimagining a Classic
How playing female roles alters male artistes’ gender perspective
From the India Today archives (2004) | Rukmini Devi Arundale: Rhythm divine
Young Bharatanatyam dancer Sivashree Kumar showcases her training and technique
Performances, discussions enrich third day of international theatre festival
‘Ekadsha Rudram’ and the 11 facets of Shiva
Himanshu Srivastava narrates the story of Ekalavya through Bharatanatyam
Veteran Carnatic singer Alepey Venkatesan took listeners back in time
Maharani by The Down Troddence, TM Krishna Set to Ignite Musical Revolution
Reviving the desi Mohiniyattam repertoire
An effort to revive an indigenous dance-drama of the Irula tribe