Ganesa Natyalaya’s day of Tandava: Shivaarghya 2026

Shivaarghya 2026 was presented by Ganesa Natyalaya in Delhi on Sunday, 1 March 2026. Shivaarghya is an annual festival dedicated to male dancers, instituted by Guru Saroja Vaidyanathan to celebrate male dancers on the occasion of Shivaratri, the festival of the ultimate male dancer, Shiva. It offers male classical dancers a vital platform to showcase their talent in a field that is now dominated by women performers. However, I think that is also slowly changing, and anybody who has been to the festival knows that these men can inspire many more boys and men to take up classical dance. It was Nataraja himself who was there to do the tandava on the Ganesa Natyalaya stage.

The first performers were Gaurav Shridhar, Gaurav Javda and Harendra Bhushan, and they presented The In Between, a contemporary Kathak trio. 

 

Next, it was Manish Kumar, presenting Bharatanatyam. He presented a Ganesh Vandana and Madhava Mamava.

 

Rahul Varshney presented Odissi next; he performed a Krishna Tandava and a Kaafi Pallavi. 

 

The subsequent performance was by Rama Vaidyanathan’s disciple Nilava Sen, an upcoming Bharatanatyam star, who presented the Krishna Panchkala Mallari. Verses were taken from the Mukunda Mala in Raag Malika, Khanda Triputa Talam. That is the point at which I started watching the performances.

 

Aditya Garud

Aditya Garud is a Kathak performer and teacher, a disciple of Pt. Mayur Vaidya who has also trained under Pt. Birju Maharaj. In a white costume, he began with traditional Kathak. His nritta was elaborate. He executed a squat and a rapid stand, paran aamad, a sam in a leg split, leaps, a tisra jaati paran and chakradaar paran, coming to sam with a leap. He did a kavit with a ball game and rain — baarish ka anand. He depicted the rain, lightning, clouds and a very precise tihai. The nritta was in ektaal. The following piece was based on Maharashtra’s Pandharpur Vari, a walking pilgrimage undertaken by Varkaris to the Vitthal Nath Mandir, dancing and playing instruments, culminating on Ashadhi Ekadashi. They offer him chandan, aarti and dhwaja. A leap and a clap were meant to show that there is no discretion between high and low; all are waiting for the darshan, and all religions are equal. A qawwali was sung in praise of Lord Vitthal, ending in tatkar and chants.

Vinay Tiwari

Vinay Tiwari, a senior disciple of Dr. Saroja Vaidyanathan and Guru Rama Vaidyanathan, presented a varnam in Raag Vasantha, Mishra Jampa talam, a composition of Srinivasa Iyengar, choreographed by Rama Vaidyanathan. The sakhi goes to Lord Srinivasa and tells him that the heroine craves union with him, and not any material riches. In this world of sorrows, his lotus eyes give her solace. Kamadev shoots arrows at her as she feels the pangs of love. Do not make her suffer more, begs the sakhi. Vinay was in a red and magenta costume. The heroine waits for you, the sakhi says. The nayika adorns herself, chooses her sari and wears her ornaments. The time is ripe for the union. The Lord’s eyes are like the lotus in full bloom. Vinay depicted Lord Srinivasa in a spectacular mudra by squatting on one leg and resting the other on it. As Kamadeva, he takes arrows from his quiver, rotates them and shoots them at her. He picks flowers from his garland and shoots them at her as her pain increases manifold. Please be quick and go to her, says the sakhi. In nritta, Vinay shows extreme flexibility and strength. His hastas are expansive and sharp, and his footwork is very precise. He moved from side to side and back and forth to cover the stage. He did a leg lift, which he rotated and brought backwards, and a perfect balancing sidewards leg lift. His nritta is full of leaps and agile moves. Credit to Sudha Raghuraman for the vocals and G. Raghuraman for the flute.

Vishwanath Mangaraj 

The next dancer was Vishwanath Mangraj in Odissi. He presented the ashtapadi, ‘Nath Hare,’ in raag Desh, taal Ektaali. His costume was magenta and blue. The sakhi goes to Krishna and tells him about the condition of Radha, who waits to be united with him. The composition says that Radha is pining in her chambers. She looks for him in all directions. She heads to the rendezvous in haste. She burns with viraha and uses lotus leaves to cool herself. She dresses herself and waits for him to come. She imagines him coming to her and kissing her. It was a sentimental piece, and Vishwanath depicted the emotions sensitively. Radha looks around for Krishna. She collects flowers and threads them. She imagines she puts the garland around his neck and then engages in a kiss, just like the lotus and the bee. She begins to dress up for the rendezvous, chooses a sari, ornaments and kajal, depicted in detail: the bangles, choodamani etc. As Madana’s arrows pierce her, she aches and despairs that he has not come as yet. She applies chandan paste to assuage her pain, fans herself, but to no avail. She burns and rubs her hands. She cries and is in anguish. So hurry and go to her, says the sakhi.

 

Shreyas Nair 

Shreyas Nair was the next performer in Bharatnatyam. Costumed in pink and white, he showed strength, precision and technique in his dance. Shreyas is a disciple of Parshwanath Upadhye, whose disciples have been the most consistently skilled at Shivaarghya for the past few years I have been attending. Like all the previous Upadhye School products I have seen, Shreyas’ technique was precise and he was equally skilled at nritta, requiring speed and stamina, and abhinaya, requiring delicacy and stillness. Shreyas started with a Thodaya Mangalam in ragamalika and aditalam. It is a composition by Shri Veene Subanna. The lyrics of the composition were ‘Pahi Pahi Chamundeshwari’, in praise of Goddess Chamunda. After offering flowers, he went on to show the trishool and, with clawed hands crossing each other, the garland of skulls that she wears. An ode was paid to Shiva as Girijapati and Lord Vishnu as reclining on the Shesha in the Ksheer Sagar. Shreyas’ nritta was very energetic and agile, with sharp hand movements and exact footwork. He finished the piece by offering flowers and arti. 

The following piece he performed was a padam composed by Maharaja Swathi Thirunal in raga Surutti, mishrachapu talam. The nayika is in conversation with her sakhi, telling her about her love pangs for Lord Padmanabha. The nayika is sitting with a flower in hand, which she then puts in her hair. Her heart flutters as she yearns for the Lord, who is like the sun for her lotus heart. The winds strike her like arrows. Her forlorn eyes are red as she waits. She puts away the lotus she is holding. She tells the sakhi to listen to her heart. The humming of the bees upsets me; a noise was made for the humming. The moon, too, troubles her. She puts her hands to her ears and shuts all sounds. Lord Padmanabha, who is like jaldhar or clouds, sends her a message. Shreyas gave the closing expression of a pained nayika. The abhinaya was sensitively executed.

 

Shubhojit Khush Das 

Shubhojit Khush Das is trained in Bharatanatyam, in the Uday Shankar style of dance and in Indian contemporary. He presented ‘Manasakatha Kavya’, an adaptation from the Padma Purana by Bijay Gupta. Manasa Devi is worshipped in Bengal for protection against snakes. She transformed Chand Sagar into her ardent follower. Shubhojit wore a grey dhoti with silver jewellery. The story is about the goddess inflicting misfortunes on Chand Sagar — destroying his sons and his trade ships. His daughter-in-law finally makes a journey with her dead husband’s body to appease the devi. He depicted the daughter-in-law struck by her husband’s death, wiping her tears and her bindi. She dances without any inhibitions and offers flowers to appease the goddess. The last bit, in which he played manjira with hanging red threads, was attractive.

Partha Pratim Hazarika 

The next dancer was Partha Pratim Hazarika, performing Sattriya. He was costumed in blue and white. He began with Jhumru Naach, which opens with Ramdani Naach or a pure dance section, followed by Geetor Nach, which showcases abhinaya to a borgeet in praise of Lord Krishna. With hands raised sideways and formed like lotuses, the nritta was conducted with leaps and nimble footwork. For the borgeet, he depicted the attributes of Lord Krishna. His energy and agility won him a round of applause.

 

Dr. S. Vasudevan

The dancer who performed next is a complete nartak. He is full of bhakti and gyaan, and on the technique front, he is complete in his nritta. That is how he gave a complete performance, though it was quite short. Dressed in white and red, Bharatanatyam exponent Dr. S. Vasudevan, full of his bhakti for the mother, danced to three verses of Soundaryalahari by Adi Shankaracharya. It was shloka 9, 23 and 29. In the ninth shloka, the kundalini rises, traversing the six chakras to the sahasrara chakra, where Shiva and Shakti reside in the thousand-petalled lotus in the mind. Vasudevan depicted the rise of kundalini and then the downward movement to show the dhyaan entering a conscious body. He drew a square and a circle, drawing the Shakti tantra, and offering lotuses to it on all four corners. Shakti is not satisfied by being one left half of Shiva. She wants to take over the rest too. She is adorned with a belt and a necklace, rounded breasts, a crescent moon on the head and a red hue. She wants the lines to blur. Vasudevan took a leap on one foot. He portrayed how the two become one, and with chants, Amba appears. She appears in red, with full bosoms, a third eye and the moon as her crown. He did a one-leg lift, resting it on the other. In the 27th shloka, the bhakta surrenders all his activities at the feet of the mother. Speech is prayer, all actions are worship, walk is circumambulation, food is oblation, sleep is salutation, and everything is a total offering of the self. He finished with a recline, with one hand behind the head, with the chants of Shivaaitantari. It was an experience, as always, to see him immersed in bhakti when he danced. The music and the vocals by him added to the ethereal magic. The music comprised mainly percussion by mridangam and idiyakka.

 

Rudraprasad Swain

The next in line was Rudraprasad Swain, a disciple of Guru Aruna Mohanty, performing Odissi. He presented the heroic tale of Abhimanyu from the Mahabharata, which came to a tragic end. Abhimanyu was the son of Arjuna and Subhadra. When he was in the womb of his mother, he learnt the technique of entering the chakravyuh as narrated by his father, but as his mother fell asleep, he did not hear the way out. On the thirteenth day of the Mahabharatha, in the absence of all warriors, he alone entered the chakravyuh but was deceitfully murdered by the Kauravas. The composition was in ragamallika and taalmallika. Dressed in blue and green, he started with his back to the audience as Abhimanyu dressing up for the big fight. He picks up his sword, bow and arrow, his khanda, his tilak and mukut, muscles flexing. Reminiscing about his childhood, when he was trained to be a warrior, he showed growing up, riding a horse, fighting with weapons and fisticuffs. On that fateful day, he enters the chakravyuh alone on his horse. He valiantly fights, shooting arrows. He is forcefully caught by the Kauravas, who together kill him. But he keeps fighting till his last breath, preventing the Kauravas from winning. He died a valiant soldier: ‘yodha maati paye, dharm paye’. Rudraprasad’s depiction was very touching. The abhinaya was effective.

 

Dr. Himanshu Srivastava

Bharatanatyam exponent, painter, Sanskrit scholar and artist-at-large Dr. Himanshu Shrivastava, a senior disciple of Dr. Saroja Vaidyanathan and Guru Rama Vaidyanathan, was next on the stage. He presented a Bengali devi stuti, a Shakta gaan invoking Devi Chandi. There was mehendi on his feet, and he wore a blue-green dhoti. To chants in Bengali, he depicted the kundalini rising to the sahasrara chakra. The yagya agni burns bright. The devi is worshipped in the early morning, holds the trishul, and has the ardh chandra on her head. She wears the kundal and a neck ornament. She has sahastra hands, and her feet are like lotuses. His hands showed tremors with footwork, and he leapt high while showing the mala of skulls in her neck. His eyes showed the ferocity of Amba as the vanquisher of Mahishasur, Chanda Munda and Raktabeej, whose severed head she holds in her hand. The Vishveshwari rides on the lion. Himanshu’s prowess with his movement, hands and feet is so precise and yet so intense that you get carried away with it. It was as if the stage moved with his feet. A very intense piece.

His next piece was just the opposite. The piece, titled ‘Baazi Prem Ki: The Cupid’s Dice’, was inspired by the writing of Bhakta Kavi Raskhan. It describes the battle that ensues between Radha and Krishna when they meet for the first time: war at first sight. Radha sits braiding her hair, tosses it behind her and looks at herself in the mirror. She goes to Yamuna to fill her pot (Gokul). She puts it on her head and leaves. On her forehead is the chandra tilak. On the other end, Shyam plays the flute, depicted by Himanshu taking stances for playing the flute. He is grazing his cows. He picks up a pebble and throws it at her pot. He laughs at her when he sees her wet. He holds her hand and kisses her (mano manmath karat kilol). He asks for his tax to let her pass, but she refuses. He dares her to play with him and if she loses, she has to kiss him. Not one to back down from a challenge, she agrees. He spreads out the chausar; they roll the dice. Radha puts her neckpiece at stake, then her waistband, and so does Krishna, and wins the turn. Krishna throws the dice high in the air. The kundal come next; each one prays for a win. He jokingly tells her that she looks like a wilted flower. Next come in the chandrika and his morpankh. They both stake their ornaments and accessories and win and lose by turns. After losing quite a few times, as a last resort, Radha puts her besar or nath at stake, though she is not happy about it, and Krishna puts his bansuri at stake. They roll the dice, but each one is ready to give the bounty to the other. Krishna folds and passes everything to her, and she picks up the flute and tries to play on it. She picks up her ornaments and leaves. It is then that Krishna realizes that his flute is missing while he was lost thinking of kissing her. Naye rang, ang, anang, turang, ati umang were the words used to describe the scene in the song written by Himanshu himself and sung so divinely by Keerthana Krishnamurthy – see my report on Himanshu’s first iteration of this performance on Valentine’s Day in Vrindavan soon after the lockdown four years ago. It is a feast to watch his expressions, which flit from shy to naughty, disappointed to shrewd, love to passion, all weaving a tale of Baazi Prem Ki.

 

Sushant Gaurav

The next performance was by Sushant Gaurav, a senior disciple of the Lahore-Lucknow Kathak gharana, bridging together the tradition of Lucknow and the forgotten Pakistan gharana. He trained under Birju Maharaj and Mamta Maharaj, and presently under Fasih Ur Rehman. He presented a tarana in raga Bageshwari, in jhaptaal. He wore an off white and black costume. He started with gentle swaying of the hands in nritta, with chakkars, which gradually became dugun in speed. He covered the entire stage. He would go down on his knees and stand effortlessly. His footwork was precise. He moved in circles with footwork and bowed out with a salami.

 

Athul Balu

Next up was Athul Balu in Bharatnatyam, a Kalakshetra alumnus and a member of Guru Leela Samson’s dance company. He was accompanied by Shamanthaka, an 11-year-old Bharatanatyam prodigy currently training under Athul. They presented a piece titled ‘Nayati’. The little disciple also contributed to the announcements. The concept and choreography of the piece was by Athul. They presented Nandi Chol and a Surdas bhajan. The Nandi Chol was choreographed by Guru A.K. Laxman. The music for the Surdas bhajan was composed by Mithun Madhusoodanan and Lalgudi G. Jayaraman’s Yamuna thillana. The music ensemble consisted of nattuvangam by K.P. Rakesh and Athul Balu, vocals by Mithun Madhusoodanan, mridangam by Kiran R. Pai, violin and tabla by Rijesh Gopalakrishnan, flute by R.S. Advait, audio design by Rakesh Pazhadam. They made casual conversation on the stage. Nandi is joyful. He is more than just a bull, says Athul the guru, teaching the disciple the Nandi Chol. When Shiva dances, Nandi looks on. He is the chief of Shiva’s ganas and the guardian of Mount Kailash. They began with a pranam and nritta with leaps. They took stances with damru and Shiva riding on Nandi. They wore white dhotis. Shamanthaka was excellent at taking dancing stances with damru. He was applauded by the audience for bettering his perfect guru.

Their next piece was a Surdas bhajan, where Shiva comes from Kailash to get a glimpse of baby Krishna in Nandgaon. Athul depicted Shiva, riding Nandi, taking stances of his jata all spread out; ‘dekho ji ik bala yogi dware tihare aayo hai’; Ganga flowing from his jata, vibhooti smeared on him, depicting the trinetra and chandra. He sees the Nandmahal and calls out. Mother Yashoda comes out with the bhiksha. He refuses, and the snakes around him scare the mother. He politely submits that he has come for the darshan of her little one. He gets a glimpse of the smiling Gopal. Shamanthaka acted as Gopal, wearing blue and yellow. The two devas of the trinity recognize each other and start to dance together. Shiva dances with his damru and so does Gopal; Athul danced with his heart, and so did Shamanthaka. The vocals were pleasing. This was followed by a thillana. The duo danced with perfect moves in coordination, their necks and eyes moving together. The tillana ended with an ode to Krishna: how he herds his cows and plays on his flute. Their expansive moves covered the stage with elan. They moved across the stage together and alternately. The aashish is that Gopal should live forever: chirjeevo, eat butter and sleep in peace. These were concluding lines of the Surdas pada. The little Gopal and his expressions won everyone’s hearts.

 

Ravi Yadav

Up next was Ravi Yadav in Kathak, a disciple of Pandit Rajendra Gangani. The first piece was a Shiv Stuti, ‘Bhasm Bhushan Ang Virajay, Shiva’. Standing with his back to the audience, he started with damru moves. He wore a silver-grey costume. Further in his nritya, he showed the chandra, trishul, bhasm, rund maal, mukut jata, snakes as ornaments, and Shiva riding on Nandi: vrishavahan. He finished with Shiva smearing ashes. His nritta showed tukde, aamad and paran. 

The second piece was ‘Shor To Shor’, based on a Kabir bhajan. The verse was titled ‘Haman Hai Ishq, Haman Ko Hoshiyar Kya’, composed by Samiullah khan. Choreography was by Ravi himself under the guidance of Pandit Rajendra Gangani. Kabir says that we have drifted away from our own source. Kabira stands facing the truth, untouchable from the harsh realities of this material world. He started the piece with nritta, parmelu, tode, tukde, pairon ki uthan and footwork, while enacting the piece. The nritya showed shackles, the dancer breaking them and flying high: liberation from maya and the grasp of this material world. He ended the piece with trembling feet and the sound of the ghunghroos.

Pritam Das

The next dancer was a Guru Rama Vaidyanathan disciple, Pritam Das, performing Bharatnatyam. Pritam is a rising star among young Bharatanatyam dancers, and his prowess is not only in his technique, but also in his abhinaya. His first piece was a javali in raga Suruti, aditalam. This was a composition of Tanjore Ponnaya, with dance composition by Guru Rama Vaidyanathan. The courtesan tells her lover not to listen to the other woman. She has a lot of tricks in her cache; do you crave her? If yes, then do not come back to me, says the nayika. That is not justice. Pritam wore a green costume with green jewellery. The nayika is castigating her lover for going to the other woman. She makes a paan and gives it to him; he is slightly dizzy after having it. He attempts to kiss her, but she refuses. She tells him that she will not let him go. Is it the lotus running away from the bee? Finally, she tells him to take away the ornaments that he had given her and leave quickly when he refuses to stay on. It was an extraordinary piece of rasa-soaked abhinaya.

His next piece was a lesson in nritta, titled ‘Tribhangini’, an invocation of Goddess Kali. The mother is worshipped as Adya Parmeshwari with her beauty, motherly compassion and fierce energy. It was a composition of Sadhak Ramprosad Sen, with music by Dr. S. Vasudevan set in ragamalika, talam Tribhangi. Pritam had choreographed it himself. He started with nritta, his expansive moves covering the entire stage. He leapt across the stage effortlessly. A leg lift with clawed hands showed the skull, then depicted the sword, trishul, fierce and huge eyes, and leaps as the goddess sweeps her sword. He took squats and sideways leg moves to depict shooting arrows. The trishul moves with force and she shoots arrows in all directions. She lifts her head and drinks the blood. As Pritam enacted lifting the severed head and raising it up, his eyes squinted slightly, and they shone as if he had a moment of epiphany, which was an experience for the audience too. The devi dances, and Pritam took chakkars on the stage as if holding the rundmala in his hands. One hand was raised as a sword and the other as the head. As the devi danced, his eyes shone with the intensity of the piece. Suddenly, he transformed into the bhakta who is pleading to the devi to take his head as bali or sacrifice. Pritam sang along in ecstasy and dropped down on the floor with his arms extended above his head in prostration. Shrimad Dakshinakalikalinih chants rang in the air with the sound of bells. In that moment, words fell short to describe the experience. The music and the vocals added to what was throbbing in the aura.

 

Surya N. Rao

Surya N. Rao, performing Kuchipudi, was the next performer. He has trained in Bharatanatyam under Guru Chandrashekar Navada, in Kuchipudi under Guru Veena Murthy Vijay, in Kathak under Guru Dr. Maya Rao, in Indian contemporary dance under Madhu Nataraj, and in the Indian martial art forms of Kalaripayattu and Thang-tha. He has also trained in folk-ritual dance forms and Yakshagana. He too came with a style and energy of his own. He is a multifaceted artist. His first composition was a piece by Thyagaraja in raga Atana, aditalam, praising Rama’s compassion and grace. Choreography was by Guru Veena Murthy. Surya wore a black and blue costume. He walked in as Rama, holding the bow and arrow. He performed the dashavatar with flair, coming to Shri Ramaavatar, when Dashshisha was vanquished. He is the one with eyes like a lotus: Dashrath Kumar, the son of Raja Dashrath. He went to the muni ashram, where they performed yagya, and vanquished the demons who disrupted the yagya, with his bow and arrow. He is the hue of the clouds and wears the vanamala in his neck. He is the one worshipped and served by Hanuman, and Hanuman bears him in his chest. He is the one who reclines on Shesha and has Garuda as his steed. Surya depicted various attributes of Lord Rama, and to end the piece, he came to the edge of the stage and depicted opening the door of the temple to find Rama standing there with bow and arrow. The nritya was captivating.

The second piece he performed was ‘Priye Charusheele’, a Jayadev ashtapadi from Geet Govind. Music was by Keerthi Kumar, and vocals, rhythm and choreography by Surya Rao. Krishna advances towards Radha, but she is cross with him and moves away. He asks her why she is cross and why her cheeks are swollen. Madan shoots his arrows at me, he says. Please offer your madhu, or the nectar of your face, to me. You are my ornaments and my jeevan, the gem in the sea of my heart. My heart yearns for you. We are not two but one, and he bows to her with his hand on his mouth. He tells her to put her lotus feet on his head to rid him of the poison that Kamadev is spewing on him. The particles of dust, raj, from her feet are enough. Surya showed the embrace with his back and hands moving up and down. The vocals in slow notes and the depiction could give you goosebumps.

The last piece was ‘Ardhanareeswaram’, a composition of Muthuswami Dikshitar in raga Kumudakriya, roopak tala. Music was by Keerthi Kumar and Surya Rao. The first stance was that of hastas of the male and female energies. Ardhanareeshwara is worshipped by the saints. He wears the lion cloth and she a sari; he wears bhasm and she chandan; one has jata and the other veni; he wears the snakes and she the ornaments. They ride on Nandi. Attributes of Shiva and Parvati were described, complementing each other. The kundalini rises, and they unite in the sahasrara chakra. It was a complete performance with perfect nritta and very sensitive abhinaya.

Anand Satchidanandan

The last performer for the day was Anand Satchidanandan performing Bharatnatyam. He is a globally recognized dancer, curator and educator, a disciple of Gurus V.P. and Shanta Dhanajayan. His recital began with Muthuswami Deekshitar’s iconic keertanam ‘Shri Mahaganapati Avatumaam’, in raga Gowlai, mishrachapu, an ode to Lord Ganesha. Dressed in grey and purple with all the ornaments, he looked picture-perfect. The attributes of Lord Ganesha were depicted: swaying ears and a swaying trunk, a four-armed posture with weapon in hand, the chandra on his head, his round belly, and riding his mooshak. This was a very neat performance with a lot of poise. The final stance was hands on shoulders to bow and then extended to touch the feet.

The second piece was an ashtapadi from Geet Govinda by Jayadev in ragam Vishnupriya, talam adi. Here, the sakhi speaks to Radha and elaborates on the plight of not just Radha, but her own too. The philosophy of jivatma longing for paramatma was highlighted in this composition when gopi, sakhi, Radha and Krishna all become one. The ashtapadi was enacted with a lot of emotion as virahini Radha. This was followed by Nritangahaaram, set to raga Behag, taalam kanda triputa. The dancer showed a lot of poise and technique despite an injury when he twisted his knee during the performance.

Shivaarghya, hosted by the Vaidyanathans, is a day-long marathon of dance by male dancers. And the choice of excellent dancers from all over the country in various dance forms, trained by different gurus, is an experience not to be missed.