Gravitas of the guru in ‘Gurutvam’ by R. Devikaa

Devikaa Rajaraman, a disciple of Guru Geeta Chandran and a chemical engineer by education, gave a Bharatanatyam recital called ‘Gurutvam’ at the Chinmaya Mission on 8 November 2025, presented by Natya Vriksha. Flowers and diyas decorated the foyer and the stairs. The invocatory prayer was by K. Venkateshwaran, who was on vocals for the evening. Devikaa’s husband Balakrishnan Rangan, with whom she had developed the concept, was also the sutradhar for the evening. The nattuvangam and choreography were by Guru Geeta Chandran, mridangam and sound by Manohar Balatchandirane, violin by G. Raghavendra Prasath, costumes by Sandhya Raman, make-up by Sher Singh, lights by Milind Shrivastava and videography and photography by Innee Singh.

Balakrishnan spoke about the various avatars of the guru in a person’s life in a very erudite manner, reiterating the fact that according to sanatan dharma, it is the guru who dispels darkness, ‘gu’ meaning darkness and ‘ru’ meaning removal. The guru is the one who gives support from the inside and makes you what you are on the outside. Guru Brahma, guru Vishnu . . . they began with an ancient shloka from the Dakshinamurthy Stotram, ‘Chitram vatatarormule vriddha’. At the base of the banyan tree, elderly disciples sit at the feet of a young guru, Lord Dakshinamurthy. Here, knowledge flows in pure silence. Is the silence of wisdom or wisdom bringing the understanding of silence? The accompanists wore black and white costumes and Devika wore a red sari. 

Devikaa Rajaraman

Devikaa had been posting short videos of her theme on Instagram in the run-up to the programme, which were a befitting ode to her guru. She worshipped the beautifully carved padukas of her guru. The guru is not merely a teacher, but a divine thread that connects all existence. In the second clip, she states that as knowledge blossoms in the alarippu, the limbs open to the rhythm and knowledge seeps in with the nurturing of the guru. The mother is the first guru, who shapes our mind through everyday examples and prepares us for life’s journey. Devika enjoys her relationship with her mother. As she caresses her guru’s padukas, she realizes that the guru’s word is the final one. It has to be a total surrender of one’s ego to imbibe that knowledge.

In the next short, it is the friend or the sakhi who takes on the role of the guru in guiding her friend towards the divine. As she plays with a child, it occurs to her that you can find your guru even in a child, who is a lesson in wisdom in innocence. That evening, the padukas were mounted on the stage on an illuminated podium. ‘Gurutvam’ literally means gravitas, which is the personality of a teacher. 
At the recital, the first piece Devikaa performed was an alarippu, the blossoming of the consciousness. The flower opens to imbibe the divine light, the nurturing of the guru. The piece was in Darpana talam, characterized by two dhritams and one guru, with 8 aksharams. Just as the guru imparts spiritual awareness, the alarippu opens up the limbs of the dancer’s body so that the body becomes a vessel for divine expression, from the initial stirrings of consciousness to the full blooming of divine awareness. Here, Devikaa used sounds, words and syllables and pushed boundaries to explore the various dimensions of a guru. Percussionist Manohar Balatchandirane, the composer of the alarippu, began with the recitation of the bols with one hand in a fist, the thumb diagonally out and moving horizontally. The accompanists were all dressed in the same colour as the dancer. Devikaa presented varied jatis for the piece with leaps and squats. She moved from the back of the stage to the front in energetic nritta. 

As she progressed in her journey of ‘Gurutvam’, the first and fundamental form of the guru was explored, in parents. The padavarnam ‘Annaiyai maravenadi’, in ragam Abhogi, composed by Guru Shri K.N. Dhandayudapani Pillai, was used to celebrate the parents as the primary gurus. The mother teaches language, values and the very essence of being human. She is always there, from the first steps to the first words. The father is the one whose words are like a support and a mantra. The jatis teermanams for the varnam have been composed by Vidwan Karaikudi R. Sivakumar and the swara patterns have been set by Manohar. 

It was a treat to watch Devikaa weave into actions the formative influence our parents have in the crucial childhood years. They are there all 24 hours for their child. The mother carries the child in her lap. She feeds him and when he is outside playing, she calls him back to eat. She cleans the baby and changes his clothes, tells him stories and feeds him with her own hands. When the baby is sleepy, she rocks him in her arms and carefully puts him down in the palana. When it is playtime, she calls his friends and plays hide and seek. She hoists him on her back for a ride. They together teach him language, names of living and non-living objects, counting and about nature. The father and the mother are unique, and there is no difference between praying to god and praying to them. Devikaa ended with the image of a child holding the hands of his parents. When it comes to the nritta in the varnam, Geeta ji is a very strong nattuvanar. It is the rhythm of her bols and nattuvangam that guides the nritta of her disciples in how and when to place an accentuation. Devikaa’s footwork was very precise, with leaps and turns marking the flexibility of the dancer. In her jatis, she moved left, right and front, back and diagonally, covering the stage. Her half-rotations, back leg stretches and squats were all very precise. Geeta ji said about the varnam that Shri Dhandayudapani Pillai composed this varnam, since he thought that children who come to learn will not be able to perform varnams that are laden with shringara rasa and bhakti. So it was for the children they came up with these varnams, which were then incorporated into the repertoire and the pedagogy. 

The fourth piece was the Tataka (Tadaka) episode from the Kamba Ramayana. The piece highlights the fact that the guru’s word is final. Rama and Laxmana are in the forest with their guru, Sage Vishwamitra, in order to vanquish the demons who disrupt their yagya. Tataka, the demoness, is fierce and terrorizes the sages living in the forest. Rama is hesitant, however, since Tataka is a woman and in kshatriya dharma, it is forbidden to kill a woman. G. Raghvendra Prasad on the violin gave a befitting beginning to each piece. Devikaa wore a blue dupatta for this with a pink fan on the side. Rama is strolling in the forests when Tataka attacks and tries to destroy the yagya. She boasts about being all powerful. Rama pulls out his arrow and puts it to his forehead, preparing to shoot. He hesitates, since a woman should not be attacked. He hesitates and puts the bow and arrow down. But his guru intervenes and asks Rama to shoot the demoness. And Rama, with his faith in the words of his guru, shoots down the demoness. The words of the guru are supreme, even for Lord Rama. The music for this piece was composed by Vidwan Sikkil Gurucharan for ‘Gurutvam’. The abhinaya for the composition was well-executed.

The next composition was Jayadeva’s ashtapadi about the sakhi or the soul friend who happens to be wise and becomes the guru. Here, the sakhi is not merely a mediator or a messenger, as she also shows right from wrong and gives advice. The sakhi here is asking Shree Radha to give up her false pride as Krishna comes seeking her. ‘Harirabhi sarati vahati madhu pavane’. And so Radha must let go of her ego and immerse herself in true love to become one. ‘You and he are one,’ says the sakhi. The music for this piece was composed by Sudha Raghunathan and was adapted for dance by K. Venkateshwaran. Radha sits in viraha, looks at the mirror and puts it down. She can imagine herself in Krishna’s embrace. She looks at the peacock feather and puts that down too. The sakhi comes in at this juncture. She speaks to Radha as a counsellor, telling her that the scent-laden wind is blowing gently in the Nikunj. Hari sits there playing on his flute. Finally, she takes Radha with her. She admonishes for presenting a sad face in front of Krishna, as he too shows pangs of separation. Radha doesn’t heed the sakhi, so she sits her down, combs her hair, puts flowers on her braid, dresses her with ornaments and as a final touch, puts their hands in each other’s. The entire composition had magical music and vocals. Devikaa’s abhinaya was very sensitive. It is the guru who makes us ready to meet the divine. 

Devikaa Rajaraman

The last piece was the exploration of the child as the guru. Here, the composition was about the profound story of the young god Kartikeya teaching his father, Lord Shiva, the meaning of the sacred syllable Om. When even Brahma could not explain the Pranava mantra, the young Kartikeya imprisoned him. Shiva tried to intervene but was made to agree on certain terms – he would have to learn the meaning of Om from his little son and agree to be his disciple. Kartikeya becomes the child-guru. Shiva lifts him on his shoulders and the father becomes the disciple and the child the teacher – Swaminatha. The Dwijavanti Tillana was woven into the story of the piece. The tillana was rich in rhythm. It showed how energy flows from the smallest to the biggest. In her nritya, Devikaa showed the pervasive naad, Om, with expansive hand movements. She depicted Kartikeya being lifted on Shiva’s shoulders and spreading his knowledge, taking the last stance as Kartikeya. For the tillana, her footwork was neat, balancing leg lifts, turning in a squat, executed well – she stood and went down in a squat with ease, she moved around on the stage showing the dhwaja moving. The performance ended with a mangalam, an ode to the guru. The tillana has been composed by Vidwan Tanjore S. Kalyanaraman with rhythmic elements set by Manohar.

There are several aspects of this performance which are exemplary for any dancer. First, a concept very tightly woven into the margam of Bharatanatyam. The concept was very precisely visualized and introduced by Devikaa’s husband, Balakrishnan. The pieces were very appropriately selected and strung together. The musicians and the accompanists were an excellent team. Manohar on the mridangam was a wizard with the rhythm and Raghavendra set the laya with Guru Geeta Chandran on the nattuvangam and K. Venkateshwaran’s magical vocals. The credit for the very powerful nritta also goes to Devikaa’s guru, who is excellent on the nattuvangam, with her very emphatic bols leading to precision in the nritta.

Pics credit: Innee Singh