Nataraja, the Lord of dance
This workshop was based on the concept of “Nataraja, the lord of dance”. This form represents exhuberance and the cosmic dance which self-created itself from the eternal stillness. This in a way represents the big bang and the creation of universe. It might in fact be interesting to note that a statue of Nataraja is placed at the entrance of the Particle Physics Laboratory, CERN, Switzerland for this reason. In this workshop, the participants learnt the different aspects of this iconic form of Nataraja and how to portray them in the Indian theatrical style.
Mahabharat
Mahabharat is an epic, unparalleled. The core story revolves around the dynastic struggles between two groups of cousins, the Pandavas and the Kauravas for the throne of Hastinapura, the kingdom which is ruled by the Kuru clan. The struggle culminates in the great battle of “Kurukshetra”, which takes place for 18 days. The narrative contains about 200,000 verses and depicts hundreds of characters whose lives have been described in enormous detail. The Mahabharat is about 10 times longer than the Odyssey and Illiad put together.
This workshop was conducted on this legendary war of “Kurukshetra”. We started off by laying the “Dharmayuddha”; rules of ethical conduct for the war. We played a game that had 4 rounds in total.
Round 1: Game of Astras or weapons
Round 2: Dual combat between the warriors
Round 3: Game of dice
Round 4: Game of Vyuhas or military formations
We also discussed many interesting parts of this celebrated narrative and a few characters in detail. This was a tremendous opportunity to go through the greatest war without a single scratch.
Panchabhutas
Whether it is the individual body or the larger cosmic body, essentially, they are made of five elements – earth, water, air, fire, and space. The “Panchabhutas” are the five elements of nature. So what happens when these elements are manifested through you?! For the five elements of nature, there are five temples in India which are geographically located within the deccan plateau. In the workshop, we delved into some fascinating aspects of these elements along with exciting games and stories.