Sri Vari Padalu Students Dance @ Pashupathinath Temple 

On the occasion of Maha Shivaratri this year, students of Sri Vari Padalu Bharatanatyam Dance Academy and Guru Rama Devi Nalla performed in the much-revered Pashupatinath Temple in Nepal. Speaking exclusively to Natyahasini, Guru Rama Devi says that the Nepal trip was organised by Dr Sarath Chandra garu and K. Dharanidhar garu. “It was the first time that Sri Vari Padalu students performed in Nepal and the local people enjoyed the performance. Performing in Pashupatinath Temple was an experience in itself,” she says. Earlier, she and her students had travelled to Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Vietnam and Dubai to name a few for performance.

The students began the evening’s performance with Ganesh Vandanam and presented some small other dance pieces and won acclaim with Shiva Tandavam. The students who performed included Rohitha Nalla, Deetya, Padmavati, Chethana Chinami, Bhagavati, Sahasra, Pavani and Chekrika. Rama Devi shares that the icing on the cake was the performance of some students’ mothers, who didn’t have any experience of classical dance. “They performed a folk number on Lord Shiva which was lapped up,” she says. The senior performers were – Dr. Deepika (Deetya’s mother), Dr. Amulaya (Sahasra’s mother), Sai Sujitha (Chekrika’s mother), Vaishnavi (Chethana’s mother) and Naga Rani (Pavani’s mother). “They were very touched while taking the mementos on stage refreshing their old memories and joyful days, though they were doctors, employees and home makers,” Rama Devi says.

After the performance, the temple management took the students and their parents for a special darshan on the festival day which was a very proud moment for them. The temple management also felicitated the students with shawl and Rudraksh. 

During the Nepal visit, Sri Vari Padalu students visited tourist places in Pokhra and the powerful Manokamana temple. “Manakāmanā Mandira, a temple that grants wishes of its devotees is a Hindu temple dedicated to Goddess Bhagwati, an incarnation of Parvati and it is situated in the village of Manakamana in Gorkha District, Gandaki Province, Nepal. It was a 15-minute cable car journey to the temple,” recalls the Guru. 

Also, she adds that they took helicopter ride to the Himalayas and some of them enjoyed the paragliding. “The view of the Himalayas was extraordinary. And the trip has given us ever lasting memories,” Rama Devi says.