Sphoorthi Theatre

Other day, I was discussing about the Dasa Kuta and Vyasa Kuta with my father, and he narrated about the life history of Sri Padarajaru . Sripadaraja is also known as Sripadaraya alias Lakshminarayana Tiirtha (1420 to 1486 A.D) and some refer it as (1404 – 1502A.D) . I am not sure about the chronology… He followed Madhava cult and is well-regarded and honoured by all madhvas. He is believed to the incarnation of Dhruva Raja. All must be aware of the Dhruva Story and Dhruva Nakshatra. Dhruva in his birth time had acquired lots of merits for his good deeds and hence heaven was the abode of rest. Well, to be one with the almighty in his abode one has to clear the returns accumulated by merits and demerits. Merits returns are like hands cuffed with the chain of gold and demerits with the iron chain. So, merits and demerits balance sheet is to nil….. Coming back to Sri Padarajaru was the originator of Dasa Kuta. It was he who first started to sing in praise of Lord in local common languag...

Festival of Mahashivaratri has remarkable significance in Hinduism. Worship of Lord Shiva on Shivratri day that falls on the 14th day of the dark fortnight in the month of Phalguna or Phalgun. Phalguna month pleases Lord Shiva the most and falls on Februray end March Ist week every year. As per one of the legend, Shiva got married to Parvati on this auspicious day. Lord Shiva appeared in the form of a linga or ling in front of Brahma and Vishnu on this day. It is said that whoever prays to the Shivalinga on this day attains salvation. Again, it is also said as per puranas, Parvati performed tapas or to say penance, prayed and meditated on this day to ward off any evil that might befall her husband on the moonless night. Since then, Maha shivaratri is believed to be an auspicious occasion for women to pray for the well-being of their husbands and sons. An unmarried woman prays for a husband like Shiva, who is considered to be the ideal husband. Another legend of the day is that Shiva a...

Adolescence is a beautiful period in every individuals lifetime with unstable and confused minds. Teenagers come under this adolescence group who with new exposures and experiences gaining in between the transit period with new relationship building, with career orientation, with high aims of achieving academic success, setting unrealistic goals, future uncertainty, self deciders and decision makers, physical, emotional and psychological changes and challenges. Many teenagers, especially today one can one in contact that every fifth teenager is suffering or encountered with depression. This is due to heavy course work pressure,tough competitions, board examinations, entrance examinations, aim of getting into "the Best" college or school or institution, parents dreams and to be fulfilled and make them happy, or it is the stupid unrealistic pressure of the parents who tax the teenagers for no reasons. Affairs with opposite sex, failures, love pressures are also one of the rea...

Drama was a colloquial word in usage for long time synonyms to Natak or Natakam . Today, one comes across  the world Theatre a lot and sounds better to use. However, many find it unacceptable to use interchangeably both Drama and Theatre . Born in an orthodox conservative Iyengar Brahmin family in 1936 Shri. T. Rangarajan was exposed to religious and spiritual readings, Shloka recitation, listening to Ramayana, Mahabharatha and Thiruppavai upanyasam  discourses from younger days.  His mother  Rajammal fondly called by all as ‘Chitti’, use to tell short funny stories  with proverbs and Tamil language saying  based. So, from the beginning he was open to  more of listening skill “Shravana”. As most of the discourses were oral in nature, this helped in developing listening skill. As always, his emphasis on youngsters to listen and develop this skill well. As he grew older, he developed an inclination towards reading rich script...

Tamasha is a traditional Marathi folk art form. It includes both singing and dancing forms. It is widely performed theatre groups within the state of Maharashtra, India. It is in fact a mobile theatre that goes to different regions of Maharashtra. The word ‘Tamasha’ is Persian origin meaning ‘to have fun or to play’. Today, this word is commonly used in Hindi, Marathi, Kannada and Urdu. Again, some have researched the origin of the word Tamasha to Turkish langaugeand has entered into urdu and finally borrowed from Urdu to Marathi. In Marathi the word Tamasha means 'A mixtures of specialized performances like dance, music, different enactements or roles by women or girls, participation of women, and singing lavanis'. I wonder how Persian or Turkish languages have influence Marathi. This folk art from is so very deep rooted in rural Maharashtra for more than eight-nine centuries that it is quite difficult to say when this Tamasha was first staged. This art form is cal...

Recently, while travelling from Hyderabad to Pune by train, I passed Kurudvadi. I have spent short time of my childhood at Kurudavadi. Kurduvadi or Kurudwadi is a small town in Solapur district in Maharashtra state of India. It is known mainly for the railway junction connecting two different rail gauge tracks. Kurduwadi is known mainly for the narrow gauge railway workshop and railway junction on Central Railway of Indian Railways. A branch railway line takes off from Kuruwadi connecting Osmanabad and Latur towards East and Pandharpur and Miraj towards South-West. The branch line called Barshi Light Railway was narrow gauge until 2008. Now it has been converted to broad gauge. The converted broad gauge track from Latur to Osmanabad was commissioned in September 2007 and the converted broad gauge track from Osmanabad-Barshi to Kurduvadi was commissioned in October 2008. I am narrating my childhood sweet memories. It was in the 1976-77, my father who was working in South Central Railw...

The Medaram Jatara, also known as the Jatara fair festival, The tribal jatara, also known as Girijana tribes, is regarded as the largest of the several tribal communities. Tribal jataras are not only prevalent in India, but also extend to many regions in Asia. The religious festival is observed biennially in the village of Medaram, located in the Tadwai mandal of the Warangal district in the state of Telangana. The Medaram Jatara commences on the day of the full moon, also referred to as Suddha Poornima, during the month of Magha. The months of January and February align with the Magha month of the Hindu lunar calendar. The jatara, a religious festival, is scheduled to take place from February 8th to February 10th in the year 2012. On the eighth day, the sacred deity Saralamma or Sarakka would be ceremoniously transported from Kannepoyinapalle village to the designated jatara site. On the next day, another deity named Sammakka, who is regarded as the maternal figure of Sara...