The OMC Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra Award Festival’s second evening witnessed yet another beautiful blend of dance and music, with a vocal recital by Partha Sarathi Panigrahi and a Kuchipudi duet by Vyjayanthi and Prateeksha Kashi.
In the presence of distinguished guests like Vice Chairman, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Dr SK Tamotia, Vice President, Crown Hotel AK Talukdar and Lalatendu Mohanty of Priyadarshini Handloom, the evening commenced with a vocal rendition of the Geeta Govinda by Partha Sarathi ‘Baboo’ Panigrahi, son of the legendary duo of Odishi, late Sanjukta and Suramani Pt Raghunath Panigrahi.
With a deep soulful voice like his father, Pt Raghunath Panigrahi, Baboo enthralled the audience with Srita Kamala, Mamiyam Chalita Vilokya and Dheera Samire, Ashtapadis from the Geeta Govinda.
He also sang Jaya Durge in praise of the power and grandeur of Goddess Durga with great poise and feeling. Baboo was ably accompanied by Bibhu Prasad Tripathy on the keyboard, Dushmant Parida on percussion and Rabi Narayan Barik on the cymbals.
The second programme of the evening was a Kuchipudi duet by the mother-daughter duo of Vyjayanthi Kashi and Prateeksha Kashi from Bangalore. Vyjayanthi Kashi’s concept and choreography of Antaranga-taranga was presented skillfully with a blend of both elegance and great energy, with dialogues that heightened the dramatic effect.
The entire production was a depiction of variations of the Vatsalya Rasa. The first item portrayed the Vatsalya Rasa between God and devotees through the story of Narasimha and Prahlad. The second piece, Jagadoddharana, was a popular composition portraying the Vatsalya Rasa between mother and son. Although Yashoda is not the actual mother of Krishna, her unconditional motherly love for him was brought out beautifully by Vyjayanthi Kashi.
In their final presentation, Bhumi Sita, specially choreographed for the festival, they showed the Vatsalya Rasa between mother and daughter, narrating the feelings of Bhumi towards her daughter through the various phases of her life, her marriage to Lord Ram and especially during her final wish to return to the womb of her mother.
Accompanied by a flawless live orchestra with Aishwariya Nityananda and Akhila Pajimanu on the vocals, Shashishankara Bhadrachar on the Mridangam, Jayaram KS on the flute, Vishwanath NV on the violin, Anil Iyer on the Natuvangam and Naveen MG on the lights, the experience of Vyjayanthi Kashi and the energy of Prateeksha made Antaranga-taranga an aesthetic delight.
