Swati Hebbar and Niyathi Nagesh (disciples of Veena C. Seshadri) performing at Dikshitar 250 Season 1
| Photo Credit: Courtesy: Kalasampada
Muthuswami Dikshitar’s compositions have been celebrated for generations not just by musicians but also dancers. For instance, Padma Subrahmanyam has choreographed Dikshitar’s ‘Meenakshi me mudam dehi’ in raga Gamakakriya while Yamini Krishnamurthy captivated hearts with her performance of ‘Balambikayah katakshitoham’.
Bengaluru’s Kalasampada Kendra for Fine Arts celebrates the composer with Season 2 of Dikshitar 250 – A Bharatanatyam Youth Festivalon October 26 in Bengaluru.
“While the music fraternity has been celebrating Dikshitar’s 250th birth anniversary with a series of special concerts, the Karnataka dance fraternity is paying obeisance to the composer through dance,” says Veena C. Seshadri, founder of Kalasampada, who has curated the dance festival.
Veena with her student Swati Hebbar during a rehearsal
| Photo Credit:
Courtesy: Kalasampada
“We are celebrating Diskhitar 250with a grand event every three months. We started with ‘Kaladhyatham, Bani and Beyond’, which was staged during Season 1 and featured duet performances by young artistes from across dance schools in Bengaluru. Season 2 will include solo dance recitals based on Dikshitar’s compositions,” adds Veena, who feels this is one of the way to take his works to the new generation. We can learn about the sthala puranas or kshetra puranas, agama sastras and nuances of bhakti bhava through his compositions. The irony is that these pieces were not specifically written for performances, but its the emotions that make them ideal for the stage.”
Dikshitar 250 features only Bharatanatyam as “that is my forte, hence we wanted to focus on this dance form. We invited applications. The dancers will each present one Dikshitar composition,” shares Veena. Around eight to nine dance schools across Bengaluru will participate in season 2.
Season 1 saw participation from students of Malini Ravishankar, Suma Nagesh, Poornima Gururaj and Aranya Narain. “Season 1 featured ‘Roopamu joochi’(choreographed by Rukmini Devi), ‘Kanjadalayatakshi’, ‘Gajananayutam’, ‘Hiranmayim’, ‘Vatapi Ganapatim bhaje, ‘Ardhanareeshwaram’, ‘Pancha matanga’, ‘Sri Maha Ganapatim’, Nottuswaram sahitya and ‘Akhilandeshwari’. We focused on duet as we wanted to showcase the beauty of coordination. Season 2 will be as interesting featuring performances by Anushree R. Raikar (disciple of Sathyanaryana Raju), who will present ‘Rangapura vihara’ in raga Brindavana Saranga, Shravani Satish (disciple of Mithun Shyam), who will present ‘Swaminatha paripalaya’ in raga Nattai and Lahari premanand (disciple of Veena), who will present ‘Meenakshi me mudam’ in raga Gamakapriya.
J. Manu and Lasya priya (disciples of Malini Ravishankar) from their performance at Season 1.
| Photo Credit:
Courtesy: Kalasampada
A significant aspect of Kalasampada’s Dikhitar 250is a two-day tour(November 22 and 23) “where we, along with the participating dancers will visit Chidambaram, Tiruvarur, Thanjavur and Tiruchi — all connected to Dikshitar’s life and works. We hope this trip offers inights into the musical, historical and spiritual traditions of each kshetra. The journey is designed to provide cultural depth, contextual understanding of the kritis, and a stronger appreciation of Dikshitar’s legacy,” says Veena.
Visit veenakalasampada.com for details.
Published – October 21, 2025 04:05 pm IST
