Hara
19th January, 2020
Punyah Dance Company, Bharatnatyam
Venugopala Swamy Temple (Akkanna Madanna), Bhongir
‘Hara’ is a Bharatnatyam composition of the eminent classical dancer Parshwanath Upadhye. The dance sequence is woven around the evergreen story of Lord Shiva and Sati Devi and their unmatched love for each other, followed by their separation and reunion as goddess Parvathi. Accompanying Parshwanath Upadhye in this ballet were the acclaimed Shruti Gopal and Adithya PV and, their young students from the Punyah Dance Company. ‘Hara’ helped the dancers to express the different forms of bhava, viraha and valsalyam.
Artists

Punyah Dance Company
Venue
Venugopala Swamy Temple is over 600 years old and is said to have been constructed during the Kakatiya regime. It is located at Mahadevpur village near Bibinagar Mandal in Yadadri Bhuvanagiri District. Owing to the anti-social attacks, the temple is said to have been covered in mud to support its construction but it was forgotten over the years. The temple was later discovered by Akkanna and Madanna, uncles of Bhakta Rama Dasu who were ministers of the Qutubshahi rulers. They went to Bhongir to collect tax from the village. It is said that while they were resting on the hillock, God appeared in their dream and told them about the temple buried underneath. They dug up the spot and discovered the temple. Located 30 km from Hyderabad, the temple which was built on 4 acres of land is a congregation of three temples — 1. Rukmini Satyabhama Sameta Venugopal 2. Shivalingam and 3. Umadevi. Rocks in the vicinity were cut out to build the temple. Each pillar is made of 6 pieces of intricately and beautifully sculptured stone.