It has been infrequent during the last 918 postings of my Photo of the Day entries that the focus of my photography has been on people. Typically I enjoy photographing landscapes, with skies coming in a close second. As a matter of fact, other than turning the camera around and taking the shot myself of Caroline and me, I don’t much like taking pictures of people. Occasionally though, when someone asked if I can take some photos at an event, I have agreed reluctantly. The results are hit and miss, although some might say the same about my nature photography. Photographing this Arangetram has been an exception. With the help of a faster lens and a slightly higher megapixel count, courtesy of Nelson Tello, I achieved results that I thought were finally worthy to be proud of and hence the photos of the past seven days. I now return you to your regularly scheduled program.

My final photo from the Arangetram of Hemangi, Poorvi, and Sachi features them performing the Varnam. The girls are depicting a scene from the Bhagavad Gita or Song of God. The festivities of the Arangetram began at 3:00 p.m. with a brief intermission before continuing the show until 8:00 p.m. Afterwards dinner was offered to the more than 450 attendees. Our friend, Sonal along with the parents of Poorvi and Sachi sponsored the event, the work they put into this was incredible. Not only did the parents support these young ladies for the seven years of preparation but for nearly three months prior to the Arangetram these parents worked hard to put together placards, invitations, programs, decorations, catering, musicians, auditorium, photographer, videographer, and all the other little details that were required for such an exquisite event. Congratulations to Hemu, Poorvi, Sachi, and the parents for an excellent Arangetram.

Poorvi Patel is seen here during her Padam of Bho Shambho, a dance depicting devotion towards Lord Shiva. The Padam is the dance that puts all of the dancers qualities or abinaya to the test. It is an expression of divine love or the pangs of separation in love. Padams are of two elements, Nayaka is the hero, lover, or divine lord and Nayika is the heroine or yearning soul. Abinaya is described with four elements, communicating the meaning of the songs using the body, i.e. head, hands, legs, etc., communicating the story using narrations, use of costumes, jewelry, and make-up, and the expression of moods. The above pose from Poorvi elicited an enthusiastic round of applause from the audience impressed with the graceful move.

The grand finale of the Bharata Natyam Arangetram is a dance of intricate footwork, coordinating body, hand, head, and eye movements known as Thillana. Bharata Natyam is one of eight major classical dance forms of India, the words break down like this: BHA is expression, RA is melody, TA is rhythm, while Natyam means dance. Bharata Natyam is made up of a dramatic element using face and hand gestures, abstract dance featuring complex choreography, and finally, dance and drama to demonstrate the lyric and mood of the music. Expressive and pure dance are the characteristics of Bharata Natyam. The eye, neck, face, and hand gestures are the expressive elements of the dance, and families of basic steps, called adavus represent the pure dance. During the British occupation of India, Bharata Natyam was outlawed and only survived hidden from public view until being brought back to the stage in the 1930s.

This dance or Padam, titled Meera Bhajan, was Hemangi’s solo performance. A bhajan is a prayerful or devotional song, most often of ancient origin. These simple songs or acts are for pleasing or expressing emotions of love for the divine. Meera, also known as Mirabai and Meera Bai was a Hindu mystical poetess who composed hundreds of bhajans. Her bhajans were in the Bhakti tradition, a Sanskrit word meaning devotion. Within Hinduism, the word denotes devotion to a particular God and in the case of Meera Bai, her devotion was for Lord Krishna. Hemu’s recital utilized graceful, flowing movements to portray Meera Bai’s unconditional love for Krishna.

In order to make the long seven-year preparation towards this Arangetram, Poorvi, Hemu, and Sachi studied under the guiding expertise of Ms. Asha Gopal from the Arathi School of India Dances. This Arangetram was one of the first graduations where three students would take the stage simultaneously and represented the nearly 100th student to have graduated from Ms. Gopal’s tutelage. Ms. Gopal is highly regarded with many a recognition for her contribution to the community and her efforts of sustaining a valuable cultural heritage that is being carried into the future.