News and events are updated regularly.

More than news & views -­ A complete source for South Asians

PANCHADEVA and the World Premiere of JAI SRI GANESHA

By Renuka

On October 27 and 28, Chitralekha Odissi Dance Creations, presented in Toronto,  PANCHDEVA and the World Premiere of the Dance Drama, "JAI SRI GANESHA". 

Chitralekha Odissi Dance Creations (CODC) includes the Chitralekha Dance Academy founded by Kalashri Chitralekha Patnaik and the The Performing Unit founded by Guru Shri Devraj Patnaik.

PANCHADEVA

The idea for Panchadeva, originally conceived in 1998, came alive at the Hart House theatre of the University of Toronto, with standing ovation and continued applause by the connoisseurs of Indian classical dance. There were quite a few non-Asians in the audience who enjoyed the performance.

Kalashri Chitralekha Patnaik, Ellora Patnaik, Devraj Patnaik and an extremely talented group of dancers, prominent amongst them being Sandhyadipa Kar, were the artists for this part of the performance.

The Panchadeva Stotra reads:

"Without differentiating, the five deities of Ganesh, Vishnu, Shiva, Devimaa, and Surya, we pay homage to you, O PANCHADEVA".

Panchadeva opened with the Panchadeva Stotra, wherein, without differentiation, the homage is given to the five deities: Ganesh, Vishnu, Shiva, Durga and Surya. It was Adi Shankaracharya, who popularised the worship of these five deities.

The piece, an experimental Odissi work, linked the traditional salutation to Lord Jagannath, the Lord of the Universe and the deity of Odissi, to the event of Panchadeva.

Sri Suryanarayana was a tribute to the sun god, the Lord of the Solar System, Destroyer of Sins, the Eyes of the Universe...

This was followed by Vande Devi Mataram. This piece dealt with five mother goddesses (though there are thousands of forms of Mother): 

Gayatri distributes the knowledge of Brahma. The three sounds of the Gayatri syllables represent Brahma, the Earth, and the Universe through only the sound of OM.

Savitri distributes the knowledge of Rudra (Lord Shiva).

Saraswati distributes the knowledge of Lord Vishnu.

Bhoomi, sitting on a Lotus, is the protector of all life.

Kali sits on the ghosts of the graveyard and is the slayer of the demons.

In Hari Hara, Devraj combined the two opposites: Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva - the Preserver and the Destroyer. 

JAI SRI GANESHA

Lord Ganesha is called AUMkara and worshipped first. If you view Lord Ganesha sideways, then you will see the symbol AUM in sanskrit. AUM is praNava. The meaning of praNava: pra is short for prakriti and navam means excellent boat. That is, AUM is the way to cross the ocean of worldly existence.

Toronto witnessed the World Premiere of the Dance Drama: Jai Sri Ganesha. The transition from Panchadeva to Jai Sri Ganesha marked the change from traditional style to create a millennium experience. 

The most popular story regarding Ganesha's origin is the one derived from the Shiva Purana. Mother Parvati once wanted to take a bath and created a boy from the dirt of Her own body, asking him to stand as a guard outside while She bathed. In the meantime Lord Shiva returned home to find a stranger at His door, preventing Him from entering. In anger, Shiva cut off the boy's head, upon which Parvati was stricken with great grief. In order to console Her, Shiva sent out His troops (gaNa) to fetch the head of anyone found sleeping with his head pointing to the north. They found an elephant sleeping thus and brought back its head.

Shiva then attached the elephantine head to the body of the boy and revived him. He named the boy Ganapati or commander of His troops, and granted Him a boon that anyone would have to worship Him (Ganesha) before beginning any undertaking.

Devraj employed the technique of dance and music, mime and histrionics to convey the challenging scenes.

Ellora played the role of Ganesha, Devraj of Shiva, Chitralekha of Vishnu, and Sadhyadipa Kar of Parvati.

The continued applause at the end of the performance was a scene in itself to be remembered. The audience applauded as the cast was on the stage. And they continued for about  ten minutes, not giving a chance to the cast leave the stage.