Abha
17th January, 2020
Punyah Dance Company, Bharatnatyam
Pooja Aakanksha Reddy, Kuchipudi
Sri Seetha Ramachandra Swamy Temple, Ammapalle, Shamshabad
Sita, the incarnation of Goddess Lakshmi, was not a woman who blindly followed instructions; she made her choices that changed the course of the epic itself. A woman, a wife, a mother and a daughter like no other, Sita was a woman who knew everything but chose to let events take its course. She let Hari fulfil his duty as Rama. ‘Abha’ is the story of Ramayana told in an unconventional way drawing inspiration from ‘Sita : An Illustrated Retelling of the Ramayana’, by Shri Devadatt Patnaik.
Pooja Aakanksha Reddy, disciple of Smt. Deepika Reddy, presented a Kuchipudi recital set to Bhadrachala Ramadasa’s keerthana “Bhajare Sriramam”.
Artists
Punyah Dance Company
Pooja Aakanksha Reddy
Venue
The Rama temple was built by Vengi king Kalyana Chalukyulu in the 13th century but the idol was 1000 years old. There is a large image of Lord Vishnu in a sleeping posture above the gateway of the tower. The tower is followed by the main temple with a large corridor around the temple. The idols of Rama, Sita and Laxmana are “ekasila raja vigrama”, built on a single stone with Makara Thoranam. The dashavatarams are also found on the Makara Thoranama which is very unique to this temple. Anjaneya, usually accompanying Lord Rama, is not seen in the garbhagriha. Instead, Anjaneya Swamy idol is placed near the Dwaja Sthambam facing Sri Rama .There is a large ancient temple pond which is surrounded by porticos that once provided shelter to the pilgrims.
