A 16th century epic brought to life on stage

Staged in Ravindra Bharathi for the first time 14 years ago, the Kuchipudi ballet, Chandrika Parinayam, travelled across the globe, before returning home to be restaged at the same venue this week. Based on a 16th century literary classic written by Surabhi Madhavaraya, the ruler of Jataprolu (now in Mahbubna-gar) in Telangana, the ballet was choreographed by Jayanthi Narayana, a disciple of Kuchipudi exponent Vempati Chinna Satyam.
A tale of a dancer and a sage…
The narrative takes off with the introduction of a celestial dancer, Chitralekha who is ordered to distract Sage Vasantha from his penance. Enraged, the sage curses the dancer. ‘You will turn a mortal and marry an iraku — a person of vile habits,’ he says. She pleads in all earnestness for forgiveness. the sage relents and grants her a happy married life as a mortal instead.
Chitralekha is then born as the beautiful Princess Chandrika. Meanwhile, a valourous king, Suchandra kills a lion, which is actually the cursed kinnera, Kumuda, who goes on to play cupid between Chandrika to Suchandra. Her father finds out about this, and sets up a swayamvaram and invites Suchandra to it, leading to a grand marriage, which marks the end of the dance ballet.
Bringing the Epic to Life
“The original is written in grandhikam, but the lyrics were translated to colloquial Telugu by Trovagunta Ramakrishna and composed into a song by Shwetha Mohan for audiences of today enjoy the story,” says Jayanthi. However, the dance set retained one poem from the grandha kavyam as is — Alaghu manobhavadayakara —which plays out as Chandrika’s guru describes her beauty to King Suchandra. Complemented flawlessly by the sannai and mrudangam, the ballet was a treat to the eyes and ears alike.
A rare treat
Although Jayanthi is also known for her Dasavataram and Annamacharya keerthanalu ballets, she has a special love for this piece of literature. “It is a very rarely attempted ballet and the Kuchipudi version of it has barely seen the limelight,” she says, adding, “Chandrika’s story is a ‘ghanamaina kavyam’. The story consists of a lot of dramatisation, making it possible for abhinaya to really shine. All of the characters have a lot of scope to express without any restrictions.”
Despite the dance recital beginning and ending later than scheduled, it kept the audience hooked, leaving them applauding unstoppably by the end of it. And as Jayanthi shares, “It was just as glorious as 14 years ago.”