VisionAid, a non-profit group that works on empowering underprivileged visually challenged people in India held  a fundraiser on July 18, 2010. Following on the heels of Ramayana and Krishna, the visionAID team is to be commended on presenting yet another classy event to a houseful audience.  This event was successful in raising significant funds that will go towards creating a new center in West Bengal.

The dance and stage maestro Madurai R. Muralidaran from Chennai, who brought about the dazzling ballet, “Krishna” in 2009, once again partnered with Vision Aid to present "Silapathigaram” (Justice of the anklet). This action packed program was held  at the Sorensen Center for the Arts at the Babson College in Wellesley, MA.

Silapathigaram, by the famous prince- poet Ilango Adikal, is hailed as one of the five jewels in Tamil literature. Mr. Muralidaran transformed this poetic drama into an elegant dance ballet appealing to a multitude of viewers. The director employed his deft imagination in the story narration through vibrant and expressive dance movements. A fully packed theater enjoyed every action with conviction, beyond the barriers of culture and language. An able support was provided by the soul filling music, back ground score, and a judicious combination of light and sound exemplified each scene.

The presentation was a spectacular display of 27 dancers pouring their passion into it. The long list of participants comprised of highly dedicated and talented teachers, graduated students and eager aspirants. The addition of five male dancers was a new and special feature.

After an inspiring presentation of Vision Aid’s activities, the ballet began with a dramatic bang.  The opening dance was dazzling with 15 beautiful dancers paying oblations to the Nature God and praising the greatness of their city, Poompuhar.  The tale was presented as a flash back as narrated by King Sengutavan.  The  tale itself began by depicting the life of the young couple Kovalan (Sujatha Meyyappan)  and Kannagi(Ranjani Saigal) .  In the next scene Madhavi’s Arangetram was introduced. A significant attraction in this scene was the Koothu Kuravai, comprising the ancient dance genre, detailed as fundamental to the origin of Bharatanatyam

The arangetram scene that followed was enriched with splendor in description and depiction, with the realistic portrayal of the Chola king’s court with all vibe. The award ceremony and conferring the title 'Talaikkol' (the best exponenet of the art) on Madhavi as depicted by Jeyanthi was crisp. The subsequent proclamation that the winner of the precious jewel would marry the dancer and how Kovalan comes to be the winner were subtle and sweet.  Sripriya Natarajan did a fabulous job as the woman auctioning the jewel.

The solitary rejoice of Kovalan and Madhavi was a colorful feast of captivating dance, the special effects of sound and light adding to the ambiance. Both Kovalan and Madhavi displayed their mastery in taking the audience into a world of sweet romance.  

Indra Vizha - the annual spectacular spring celebrations was flashed next . The scene setting was quite realistic. The energetic and challenging dance sequences describing the 11 different koothu were dazzling

The moonlit night and the splendorous nature at its height of expression were all set well for Kovalan and Madhavi to rejoice, while boating, in the next scene. Alas – the defining moment of Madhavi misinterpreting Kovalan's song attributing the beauty of the nature to the features of a damsel and her reciprocal song sparking disagreement were short and crisp. Jeyanthi Ghatraju as Madhavi looked beautiful and from romance to discord, both she and Sujatha Meyyapan (as Kovalan) did a marvelous job depicting  different emotions.

The next scene showed Kannagi sharing her woes with her friend. Hema Iyengar was very convincing in the role of the close confidant. The reunion of Kovalan with his devoted wife Kannagi was quite solemn - Kannagi forgiving her husband and encouraging him to restart his trade elsewhere.  Their journey to Madurai escorted by the Kavundi adigal , depicted by Susruthi Rajanala was a smooth passage. Susruthi adroitly depicted the combination of serenity of an enlightened woman with the compassion for common folk.

The cowherd community with whom the couple settle down was realistically displayed and the most striking one was the rendering of Aichchiyar Kuravai'- a forgotten dance form with a great following in the literary period. It was quite the testimony to the maestro's creative imagination.

The Kovalan-goldsmith meeting and the incidents that followed were very well done. Amrita Saigal did a phenomenal job as the conniving goldsmith who is the antagonist in the story.  The hasty judgment of the Pandiya king depicted by Sravanthi Puranam and the rush for execution were expressed very well.  Thivya Raghupathy played the role of Pandimadevi beautifully.

It was Kannagi's turn to rise up to plead Kovalan' innocence in the court of the king. Ranjani Saigal’s reaction to the news of the sad end of Kovalan was so replete with emotions that many in the audience said  it moved them  to tears.  Thenu Rajan’s expression of evil signs and her reaction to Kannagi’s grief (in sharp contrast to her earlier joyful dance) and was extremely effective in enhancing the impact of the scene.

Kannagi's thunderous arrival in the court, and the dialogue-dual between Kannagi and the Pandya king echoed the original verse of the poet with aplomb. Not satisfied with death of the guilty king, and the conviction to fight injustice portrayed in the dancer’s face and the body language were apt to the scenic needs. Sravanthi Puranam was able to  effectively convey the anguish of the King when he learns of the injustice.

On the whole the ballet was replete with captivating scenes, beautifully set in the spirit of the original version. Of special mention were the opening dance, the arangetram scene, and the Indra Vizha dances. However one suggestion was expressed by a hand-count of viewers that the court scene could have been more emphatic, since it laid more focus on Kannagi and less on the Pandiya king.

In the original poem, Ilango Adikal exposed the guilty king in the lines  'kaadellaam soozhndha karunkuzhalum kandanji koodalaan koodaayinaan;    kandalavae thotraan ak kaarikaithan sor cheviyil undalavae thotraan uyir.(even at the very first sight of Kannagi with an anklet in hand, the king became life-less;  no sooner,  he heard the vehement argument of Kannagi  that he felt dead.)  If this had been exhibited, it could add poetic assurance to this thrilling scene. 

The play was complex and almost every character had a variety of emotions to portray.  Be it Nritta or Abhinaya everyone delivered with precision.  Kudos to Madhurai Muralidharan for his excellent direction and to the dancers for playing each role to perfection.

The talented dancers of the evening were: 

 Abritee Dhal (narrator), Aditi Bhivandkar (narrator), Amrita Saigal (porkollan), Anand Ayyagary (guard, nattuvanar, monk), Chitanya Gopu, Hema Iyengar(confidant) , Hemalatha  
Gopalakrishnan, Jeyanthi Ghatraju (Madhavi), Kalpana Satchidanandham, Karthik (guard), Maithreyi Shankar, Meyya Muthu, Neha Pillai(narrator), Nithisha Prasad, Ramya Ragupathy, Ranjani Saigal (Kannagi),  Saravanan Chithambaram (Cholan), Sravanthi Puranam (Pandian),  Sripriya Natarajan Moorthy (auctioneer of Madhavi's jewel), Subha Kannath (narrator), Sujatha Meyyappan (Kovalan),  Susruthi Rajanala (Kavundi adigal), Thara Thattachery (narrator), Thenu Rajan (Madhirai), Thivya Ragupathy (Pandimadevi), Vamshi Polam (guard), and Vijay Murthy (Cheran).

These dancers were very special, in that, they are all students and/or professionals with other careers and yet devoted so much of their time and effort in performing challenging numbers that evening. It all came together beautifully under the able guidance of Sri Muralidaran,  

The show owed a lot to the phenomenal props created by Thanes Raghupathy, Lakshmi Rajanala and Shobha Shastry(of Alankar Decors) and the lighting support provided by Kanth and Narasimha. Dr. Rama Ramakrishnan's English narration (the script for which was provided by S. Ramamoorthy) made the show accessible to a non-Tamil audience.

The audience responded very positively. Comments like "it was the highlight of the summer for me" and "one of kind show" along with standing ovation was well deserved indeed.

About  Silapadhikaram.

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The story contained in this work was set around the birth of the Christian era. Kovalan, the son of a rich merchant, is married to the lovely and virtuous Kannagi, Kovalan goes astray and courts a dancer Madhavi forsaking his wife. After he expends his entire wealth on Madhavi, he breaks up with her and rejoins his wife.   The couple moves to Madurai to seek new fortune. They settle in the family of a cowherd outside the city.  Kannagi parts with one of her precious anklets to start their new life. Kovalan sets out to a goldsmith to get a bargain for the anklet given by Kanngi. The latter hatches a plot and betrays Kovalan before the king as the culprit who stole the queen's anklet. although the goldsmith was the one who had the queen’s anklet.  In haste and without any further investigation, the king orders the immediate execution of Kovalan.  A devastated Kannagi, determined to seek justice, goes to the Pandya King’s court.  Kannagi proves her husband’s innocence using the other anklet she has with her. The king ends his life unable to bear the burden of his hasteful act.  The infuriated Kannagi sets ablaze the entire city of Madurai.

A striking feature of the poet's work is the many revolutions it spells. As the English narration pointed out, in deviation of the compulsive convention of naming the epic after the hero or the heroine, Ilango Adikal deliberately chose the jewel that brought about justice, as the title. One may recall in Kalidasa's epic 'Sakuntalam' and in Shakespeare's master drama 'Othello', the vital roles played by the tiny articles- the ring and a small hand kerchief- were ignored and the authors named them after the heroine and the hero respectively.

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