MELATTUR BHAGAVATHA MELA
NARASIMHA JAYANTHI
| Picture Credit score: The Hindu Archives
The near seven-hour drive from Chennai to Melattur (close to Thanjavur) to look at the Bhagavata Mela may very well be thrilling for a first-time traveller. Lush paddy fields, small streams flowing down rocks, kids taking part in within the solar… the visuals present a slice of life in villages.
The three-tier gopuram of Sri Varadaraja Perumal temple embellished with LED lights on the inaugural day of the 83rd Bhagavata Mela pageant.
| Picture Credit score:
T.R. Sudha
A view of the Sri Varadaraja Perumal temple at Melattur earlier than the beginning of the pageant on Could 19, 2023.
| Picture Credit score:
T.R. Sudha
Regardless of the sweltering warmth, Melattur is all geared as much as host the 83rd Bhagavata Mela utsavam (Could 18-26). As you attain the venue, a flashy arch says, ‘Varuga varuga’ (welcome).
The arch on the entrance of the
agraharam road and the make-shift stage arrange within the center dealing with Sri
Varadaraja
perumal
temple for the 83rd Bhagavata Mela pageant. It’s right here that the night-long theatre takes place yearly.
| Picture Credit score:
T.R. Sudha
The agraharam that results in the makeshift stage, dealing with the Varadaraja Perumal temple, is decked up in kolams.
The make-shift stage arrange in the midst of the agraharam dealing with Sri Varadaraja perumal temple is the place the week-long pageant takes place. A view of the preparations being made earlier than the beginning of this yr’s Bhagavata Mela on the inaugural day (Could 19).
| Picture Credit score:
T.R. Sudha
Yearly, Melattur turns right into a efficiency enviornment as locals and other people from close by villages flock to look at the spectacularly vibrant people theatre.
A bit of the viewers ready to look at the inaugural play Prahlada Charitam.
.
| Picture Credit score:
T.R. Sudha
The inaugural night culminated into the night-long staging of the favored play, Prahlada Charitam, offered by the Melattur Bhagavata Mela Natya Nataka Sangam as a part of the Narasimha Jayanti Vasantotsav.
A particular puja is carried out to Narasimha and his consorts and the masks, an necessary prop utilized in Prahlada Charitam. After the preliminary rituals on the inaugural day of the 83rd Bhagavata Mela, the deity is carried again to the temple to the accompaniment of thavil efficiency.
| Picture Credit score:
T.R. Sudha
The artwork type owes a lot of its recognition to Melattur Ganesa Iyer, who labored arduous to revive it. He started this annual utsavam as a method to promote Bhagavata Mela. The legacy was taken ahead by his son G. Swaminathan and grandson S. Natarajan, who established the Melattur Bhagavata Mela Natya Nataka Sangam. The Sangam is now helmed by Natarajan’s brother, S. Kumar.
A devoted workforce of actors, musicians, and backstage technicians have stored the custom going. Performs akin to Harischandra, Sita Parinayam, and Prahlada Charitam from the Melattur Bhagavata mela repertory are offered yearly.
A scene from the inaugural play Prahlada Charitam, on the 83rd Bhagavata Mela, on Could 19. The night-long play The night-long play, which started at 10.30 p.m., continued until 5
a.m. the subsequent day.
| Picture Credit score:
Bhagavata Mela Natya Nataka Sangam
Because the night time will get darker, Hiranyakasipu (performed by Kumar) seems on the stage to thunderous applause.
Grasp Sudarson as Prahlada within the play Prahlada Charitam staged on the inaugural day of the 83rd Bhagavata Mela.
| Picture Credit score:
Bhagavata Mela Natya Nataka Sangam
Prahlada, performed splendidly by grasp Sudarson, tugs on the viewers’s heartstrings together with his emotion-packed efficiency. The singers, who additionally double up as sutradhars, are led by the Tiruvaiyaru Brothers – S. Narasimhan and S. Venkatesan.
The partaking rendition by the singers accompanied by a percussion workforce enhanced the attraction of the night-long play.
| Picture Credit score:
Picture Courtesy: Melattur Bhagavata Mela Natya Nataka Sangam
The music workforce with Nagai P. Sriram on the mridangam, B. Gokul on the flute and Kannan Balakrishnan on the suddha maddalam construct the temper with their excellent sound assist. It’s 5 a.m., and the viewers remains to be sitting glued to their seats.
When the play lastly attracts to an in depth, you realise Bhagavata Mela will not be merely an artwork type, it’s an expertise.