Welcome to the most delectable Dance event that is now hosted by Swapanthi Dance Academy.  This event is hosted on a Non-Indian soil for the very first time in this century and this marks an important historical era in Indian Cultural mileu.  Indradhwaja Mahotsava is also the glorious contribution of Karnataka, for it preserved the tradition as a social event to this day.

All over our world, social, political and geographical festivals are celebrated with flags and poles.  India celebrated these as a socio-cultural right from 2nd BC and called it Indradhwaja Mahotsava.  This Dance event we present before you now is the only pioneering choreography of that cultural inheritance. 

Smt. Radhika, who is the foremost dancer and choreographer of India had conceptualized it and choreographed this event.  Smt. Aparna Sundaram has shown her Vision and Virtuosity in bringing this event to USA. Sri Sundaram is Event Managing and has resplendently shown his overall management skill. 

Brilliant Students and guest dancers of USA have joined as a team to bring before you this Dance event. 

One of the enjoyable feature of this event is the inclusion of Indian ‘Mayajala’ the Indian Magic. Here, the event distorters are the Asuras who conspire to re-interpret culture and its root essence, but later on merge with the mainstream of its philosophy.

Bharatamuni’s Natyashastra is a repository of all Indian arts and culture. It integrates both the streams of the art and culture, viz, the academic and its performance.  It is perhaps the very first event of Art Management in the recorded historiography of our arts.

Bharata narrates a very unique extravaganza event of dance and music in his Natyashastra.  It is an episode where Brahma calls it as ‘Indradhwaja Mahotsava’ to commemorate the joyous occasion of the creation of the fifth veda, the Natyaveda.   

The Indradhwaja Mahotsava the Dance event focuses on this and portrays the original and contemporarily important messages of Natyashastra. 

 Indradhwaja Mahotsava, celebrated as a festival, is at least a thousand year old featuring Dance, music and all other art forms our country. This festival has influenced many other countries all over the world.  In India, this Mahotsava is celebrated to this day only as a socio-cultural event. In Karnataka state, Indradhwaja Mahotsava is celebrated in the Mysore palace premises (during the Vasanta maasa) and two other places (dharmasthala and Sirsi) of Karnataka.

We have now created the original dance feature of this magnificent event.  

We were inspired into creating this dance event after studying the profoundly written articles by Mahamahopadhyaya Dr. R.Sathaynarayana (the Banner Festival of Indra : sangeet natak academi, new delhi), Padmavibhushan Dr. Kapila Vatsyayan (Bharata : the Natyashastra)(we dedicated the first event performed in mysore to Dr. Kapila Vatsyayan paying our grateful respects for giving the artist fraternity such works as aforementioned), Padmasri Dr.G.C.Tripathi for inspiring us into a higher realm of understanding that led us to re-choreograph the entire play. 

We have :

• Created the entire play with the lyrics written in Samskrta.

• Completely recreated the whole indradhwaja event described in the Natyashstra of Bharata

• Taken most of the text from the Natyashastra and hence proved the continuum of the Textual tradition to the practical tradition of our arts

• Created many important ‘lakshya lakshana geetas’ that describe the various nuances of the Natya.

• We have also introduced the most important aspect of the gurushishya parampara, that is, the Natya deeksha paddhati that was prevalent during ancient times.

• We have created the indradhwaja pole as a miniature of its traditions in Karnataka.  We portray the jarjara used by Indra (natyashastra)

• The music created for this event is replete and resplendent with all hoary tradition that has evolved into its modernity. We have also recreated the costume and taken it to a new realm.

• We have incorporated all the aspects of dance event narrated by bharata : maayaajaala (magic show), utsava nartana (deshi natya), angabhava, Yoga, and spiritual portrayal of the arts.  In all these, careful artistic endeavor is our ultimate goal.

• For a long time, we have been thinking of bringing in all cognate arts into a single play.  Indradhwaja Mahotsava has these integrated to the main theme :

  • Maayaajala : portrayed through a Magic Show by a renowned Magician of Karnataka.  He takes on the role of a Rakshasa, ordained by Virupaksha (as in Natyashastra) and creates many distractions and destructions for the final production of the mahotsava.

  • Yoga : as a cleansing and self realizing means to achieve the final goal : the launch of the Mahotsava. (this also incorporates the Vyayoga lakshana : the practice before the play)

  • Desi Laanchana paddhati : we have included many desi styles of dancing and portrayal of various other laanchana mudra.  This is the tradition in Karnataka.

  • Portrayal of various games (malla yuddha etc) as a course of the Mahotsava, this is also a tradition in Karnataka.

• The entire script is in Samskrita.  We have intentionally selected this, for, samskrita is now emerging as an international medium of expression on most trans-world art platforms and forums.  Karnataka Sangita is the musical base and we have even created Magic Music using mainly folk instruments instead of using the usual western style of glamorous music.

Smt. Radhika Nandakumar has choreographee and directed this play.  Music is directed and sung by Sangita Vidwan R.S.Nandakumar, foremost Musician of Karnataka. Instrumental ensemble is directed by Vid. K.U.Jayachandra Rao, an internationally acclaimed percussion virtuoso. Special lyrics are composed by Dr.S.Jagannath, of Oriental Research Institute of Mysore.