Prasiddha Foundation celebrated forty glorious years of its existence with a festival of unique and thought provoking dance dramas “Ramayana Chaitravali” from 10^th to 12^th March at the Stein auditorium, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi.

Prassidha Foundation in collaboration with the India Haibtat Centre and Forum For Art Beyond Boundaries with the support of the Ministry of Culture, Government of India organized this mega festival that entertained, educated and enlightened the audience with women centric theme with the portrayal of eight women of Ramayana, who stood against adversity and emerged victorious.

Directed and choreographed by Padmashri Pratibha Prahlad, eminent Bharata natyam danseuse, mentor and the founder director of Prasiddha Foundation, the first day featured the International premiere of the iconic presentation of the festival “Saamarthya” that tells the story of the Ramayana through the kinetic energy of the women of Ramayana featuring Sanchita Bhattacharya as Kaikeyi, Ayswaria Warriar as Urmila,Haripriya Nambudiri as Surpanakha, Alekya Punjala as Mandodari and Pratibha Prahlad as Sita.

The performance commenced with the intense portrayal of Queen Kaikeyi as she takes  the advantages of the priviledges s provided by Raja Dashrath who follows the dictim “Pran Jaye Par Vachan Na Jaye” in order to crown her son Bharat as the King instead of Rama, as being suggested by the evil Manthra. Kaikeyi’s pride,anger,arrogance and jealousy was well depicted by Sanchita Bhattacharya in the Odissi style.

Another protagonist who silently suffers is Urmila, the wife of Lakshmana, who steadfastedly follows her husband’s instructions with complete devotion and surrender to Lord Rama, “Ormakil Viraha Vidharam, Aatmiyan Janmantaram” with lyrics in Malayalam performed with intense and subtle expressions, blending well with elegant movements in the Mohiniatam style by Ayswaria Wariar.

The evil sister of Ravana, Surpanakha who tried to entice both Rama and Lakshmana but in vain. The powerful portrayal of suffering and anger was effectively depicted by Haripriya Nambudiri in the Kathakali style. Wife of Ravana, Mandodari who repeatedly warns him against his misdeeds but in vain. The role of Mandodari was well enacted by Alekhya Punjala in the Kuchipudi style.

The last but not the least the protagonist role of Ramayana – Sita was brilliantly portrayed by Padmashree Pratibha Prahlad in the Bharata Natyam style. Sita returns after being abducted by Ravana, Lord Rama doubts her chastity, Sita is completely embarrassed but faces the “Agni Pariksha” and ultimately offers herself to mother earth – Bhudevi. All the women characters made great sacrifices in their lives but ultimately emerged victorious against adversity.

The Prasiddha Repertory artists were Rahul Ray, Kuleshwar Thakur, Nitin Kumar, Ram Gautam, Semai Sogolsem, Ramhari Mohanty, Kavya Kashinath, Rachana Karnaik, and Aashna . The distinguished guests for the inauguration were Honourable Minister for Culture - Gajendra Singh Shekawat, Dattatreya H Sarkaryavah of RSS, A.Surya Prakash of Pradhan Mantri Sangralaya, Harshdeep Singh Puri, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Abhijit Gokhale of Sanskar Bharati and Satchidanand Joshi of Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts.

The second day  featured Ekam Sat, “One World One Religion” concept and choreography by Pratibha Prahlad with Mithun Shyam, Rekha Raju, Nidhaga Karunad, Kavya Kashinath, Rachana Karnaik, Kartik Shetty, Harshvardhan, Raksha, Aishwarya Radhkrishnanan and Prasiddha Repertory. Ramayana Chaitravali also featured the Untold story of the 11^th Head “Ravana” by Surya Rao, Saumitri - the epitome of unwavering loyalty by Praveen Kumar and Vayu Putra- Bhakti redefined by Nidhaga Karunad and the final day would presentation was yet another unique production of Prasiddha Foundation known as Bharat After Mahatma. Ramayana Chaitravali also included the story of unwavering faith of Shabiri by Satyanarayana Raju and Vali – the story of courage and invincibility by Mithun Shyam.

Prasiddha at 40 is not just a reflection of the past but a promise to the future of nurturing art, fostering creativity and keeping our timeless traditions alive. Padmashri Pratibha Prahlad says “The last forty years have been an extraordinary journey of love and passion for the preservation, promotion and propagation of Bharat’s rich cultural heritage and traditional art forms. I have always believed that maintaining our culture, values and artistic traditions are beyond price. Its very important that the new generation embraces our traditions with pride for our identity is our culture. In the divisive times we live, art is the only unifying factor.”

By Guru Vijay Shanker