Grammy-winning monks share stage with Kathak dancers

fusion art

Grammy award winning Buddhist monks teamed up with Kathak danseuse Shovana Narayan for a dance and music production here that essayed the time immemorial quest and fears of individuals and included the experiences of Emperor Ashoka.

Standing amidst a sea of corpses, a river flowing red with the blood of the vanquished, Ashoka slowly removes the veils of arrogance and abhimaan clouding his intellect. Eyes filled with tears and hands folded in obeisance, he descends from the stage, marking his symbolic departure from the ivory tower of his ego, a man bloodied in battle, humbled in life.

This powerful scene marked the end of the beginning aft of the four-act production titled ‘Shuunyata’.

The dance and music production sought to address questions of conflict of ego which eventually overtakes the harmony within individuals and of acceptance.

A synthesis of elements of Kathak with traditional Buddhist Vajrayana chants and dance form called Vajra Nrityam, the endeavour was a collaborative venture between Shovana and Buddhist monks of the Palpung Sherabling Monastic Seat who had won a Grammy award for their chants in 2004.

“There is an inner chant within each of us. And there is an inner movement between each of us. Shunyata, I think, was just an external manifestation of the two genres,” Shovana says.

The dancer says she conceptualised the production during the course of conversations with the monks of the Palpung Sherabling seat. “Somehow these stray discussions led to something meaningful,” the danseue says. 

Eerie yet peaceful chanting of monks opened the production. Juxtaposed with them were dancers, who personified ego. The performance subsequently moved on to capture episodes from the life of the Buddha including the tales of Kisa and the mustard seeds and of Sujata and the milk rice.

“The first act ends with Asoka questioning ‘What am I an emperor of? Only of a river of blood and corpses.’ The episode of Kisa shows the importance of accepting death as a reality. The story of Sujata is set in the time when Buddha attains enlightenment. And finally, once we have that harmony within us, it all comes together and leads to Anand,” Shovana says.

The present twelfth Kenting Tai Situpa, Pema Donyo Nyingche Wangpo, spoke on the coming together of the two distinct cultural forms.

“What is happening here today is a confluence between two of the world’s great spiritual cultures, Buddhism and Kathak. These spiritual traditions come together for a meaningful inter-faith, inter-culture experience. It is no use having different religions at all if it is not for the benefit of all living creatures,” he says.

Shovana also emphasises the core message that she wished to showcase through the production. “If we are born on this earth we have to accept pain, suffering, old age, death... At the same time there is the other message... don't let ego overcome you.”

Senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi, former Union minister Salman Khurshid and former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar were among those who attended the programme.