JOIN USFrom the swans' mouth...
The three-day event included an exhibition, cultural events and a host of speakers talking about the role of Hamsa in various aspects of Indian culture. The first day was dedicated to an exhibition where many artists displayed their works relating to the Hamsa.
The second day of the event was an equally spectacular one with the highlight of the day being a mega dance ballet, Hamsadhwani — The Swan Speaks. The ballet had dancers dressed as swans depicting an International Seminar of Swans, who had gathered to find answers to the seemingly simple yet philosophical question — What makes a swan a swan?
It began with the depiction of the swan as a symbol of strength. They depicted the popular story of the crow and the swan from Mahabharata wonderfully.
What followed was the depiction of the swan as a symbol of love, beauty and art.
The ballet ended with beginning of the trait viveka (knowledge), where a bird that is not a Hamsa begins narrating its story.
The music of the ballet requires special mention as it was mainly an attempt to bring out all the ragas in classical music with Hamsa in it. Some of the ragas that Bangaloreans got a taste of were Hamsakinkini, Hamsadwani, Hamsabhramari, Hamsabhogi, Hamsagandharvam, to name a few.
Another speciality of the songs was that all the lyrics highlighted the name of the raag.
The wonderful ballet had close to 50 artistes from the Research Centre and Rasa Arpita from Chennai performing. The third and final day included seminars on Hamsa Gita, Hamsa Upanishad, Hamsa in Vedantic Symbology, Hamsa in the Indian Literary
Tradition and many other concepts by experts.
The evening saw the second part of the dance ballet Hamsanandi — The Swan of Bliss.
It began with the quest to understand the meaning of Viveka.
The story was similar to that of the ugly duckling which had a fascination for the swans.
The ballet gave Bangaloreans a glimpse of the Hamsa philosophy.