VARNAMS

The first Nruthyopahaaram Aadum mayil Vaahananam...with lyrics by Periyasami Thooran and music by Turaiyur Rajagopala Sarma was composed for the Arangetram of 2 sisters Lalitha and Geetha Ananthakrishnan in 1974. Necessity is the mother of invention and Dhananjayan wanted to create a new repertoire for a duo Bharatanaatyam performance. This was in place of Varnam, suitable for two girls to perform. The usual practice is to share the same Varnam.

The idea of a nindasthuthi in Tamil was written by Dhananjayan in words and he then requested Thooran to make that into a poem. It is a Ragamalika / talamalika composition with varieties of bhavas, challenging for these girls to show their prowess. This has all the ingredients of a Varnam, yet was interesting and refreshing for the Rasikas to see a Varnam almost like a small dance drama. The dialogue between the heroine and her friend, one despising Muruga for his shortcomings, and the heroine turning those faults, philosophically interpreting them as His virtues.

Balamuralikrishna�s Varnam in Shanmukhapriya, Omkara pranava naada has been set to choreography by Anitha Shanmuganathan, a student of the Dhananjayans.

With present day preference for short items, where the audience has no time to see long-winded varnams, the Dhananjayans wanted to prove that, if done the right way, any audience can sit spellbound, however long an item is.

So, in 2001 during the December season in Chennai, Dhananjayan presented the Vinaayaka Varnam in Narada Gana Sabha and the Attana Varnam (Krishna Varnam) at Bharat Kalachar as a full-length performance. The audience sat through the 90-minute performance and at a point in the Bharat Kalachar performance, so involved was Dhananjayan in his performance that he nearly fell off the stage!

�I wanted to prove to the people that Bharatanaatyam is not boring. It all depends on how best you can present it. If your portrayal is engrossing, people will definitely see it through. There was no costume change either. Many in the audience went home convinced Bharatanaatyam had not lost its appeal to the masses.�

Aanjaneya Varnam
Since nobody has done anything on Aanjaneya, the Dhananjayans composed a varnam on Aanjaneya in Bharatanaatyam.

Shiva Varnam
Violinist and composer Seetharama Sharma wrote this Telugu varnam in Dharmavathi. It deals with the sthalapurana of the Kalahasti temple, the origin of Kalahasti and about Kalahastishwara. It has been choreographed by Shanta Dhananjayan.

Vinaayaka Varnam in Nattaikuranji (1982)
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Raama Varnam (1983)
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