NCPA Pravaha- Keerthana Ravi, Pavitra Bhatt

Ammaiyar – Shiva’s Ghoul Devotee

Bharatanatyam by Keerthana Ravi
and
Paalini – The Protector

Bharatanatyam by Pavitra Bhat

Keerthana Ravi learnt Bharatanatyam under Padmini Ramachandran for over two decades. She is currently undergoing extensive training under Rama Vaidyanathan in New Delhi. Ravi stood first in the senior exam for Bharatanatyam conducted by the Government of Karnataka and has received an ‘A’ grade from Doordarshan Kendra. She has won several dance competitions at the state and national levels.

Karaikkal Ammaiyar has been described as a demon devotee who accompanies Shiva to cremation grounds. Her life is lived in inversions; she transcends her youth and asks to be disfigured and ghoul-like so she can immerse herself in Shiva. Upon reaching the Kailasa, she decides to crawl on the ground so as to not disrespect the sacred land on which Shiva resides. She chooses to live in cremation grounds, away from gendered and societal norms, following the path of devotion. The production unravels her compositions and makes an attempt to understand her philosophy that was the bedrock of Bhakti literature devoted to Shiva. She was among the earliest Nayanmars, one amongst the 63 who wrote about Shiva, and her work precedes the other Nayanmars by hundreds of years. Amaiyaar – Shiva’s Ghoul Devotee will be premiered at the NCPA this month and has been created exclusively for Pravaha.

Pavitra Bhat is a Bharatanatyam exponent who trained under Sikkil Vasanthakumari and later under the renowned exponent Deepak Mazumdar. To perpetuate and promote dance, Bhat established Pavitra Art Visual Institute (P.A.V.I.). The institute boasts over 300 students, many of whom have been awarded the CCRT’s Junior Scholarship. Bhat is an ‘A’ grade artiste of Doordarshan and has performed in India and abroad.

The Adi Parashakti in the form of Paalini – The Protector performs her primordial duty of nurturing and protecting all the children of the universe. As the divine mother, she creates the animate and pervades into all that has been created. She protects with no discrimination and all she asks for is complete bhakti or devotion.