Bharatnatyam Dance Concert in Yerevan, Armenia

Bharatnatyam Exponent Ms. Revathi Ramachandran

On 29 September 2012 Indo-Armenian Friendship NGO’s members attended and participated in “A Bharatnatyam Dance Performance ” event performed by Bharatnatyam Dance Exponent Ms. Revathi Ramachandran. The performance took place at Arno Babajanyan  hall in Yerevan and was dedicated to the Celebration of the 20^th Anniversary of the establishment of the Diplomatic Relations between the Republic of India and the Republic of Armenia. The organizers of the event are The Embassy of India in Yerevan, The Indian Council for Cultural Relations, Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, and the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Armenia.

IAF representatives with the
Bharatnatyam Dance Group of Ms. Revathi Ramachandran

The event began with the inaugural address by Mr. Pankaj Saxena, Charge d’ Affaires of the Embassy of India in Armenia, who welcomed all participants from different diplomatic missions, organizations, universities etc. and expressed his gratitude to all organizers for such a beautiful initiative. Then Mr. Artur Poghosyan - Deputy Minister of Culture in  Armenia addressed the large audience present in hall and talked about the importance of Indo-Armenian cultural relations which have long celebrated history. He also reminded this event as a part of  celebration of “Indian Cultural Days” in Armenia form 28 September till 2 October. During these days Bharatnatyam Dance Group will also perform in Yerevan State Medical University and in Gyumri - the cultural capital of Armenia.

Charge De Affairs, Embassy of India, Mr. Pankaj Saxena
with the dance group

Bharatnatyam Dance Group from India was comprised of 5 members; Ms. Revathi  Ramachandran - dancer who was accompanied by  Ms. Korukkai Ramachandran Manasvini (Cymbals), Ms. Preethy – Maheshwar (Vocalist), Mr. Krishnamoorthy Venkatasubramanian (Mridangam) and Mr. Vasudevan Muruganandam (Violin), presented 7 dances (Invocation, Varnam, Suddhanrittam, Javali, Padam, Devaram and Tillana).  

Ms. Korukkai Ramachandran Manasvini  daughter and  student of Ms. Ramachandran accompanied with her Guru and mother to thrill the audience with their classical dance performances. It was a great performance to showcase the Indian spiritual and philosophical thought system where the expressions, the melody and the sound are in harmony with each other and emphasized the Union of Outer World with Inner World. 

Bharatnatyam is one of the ancient classical dances of India which are all based on “Natya Shastra” created by Bharat Muni. Bharatnatyam is also known as the fifth Veda or Natya Veda, a quintessence of four Vedas which were written thousands of years ago during Vedic Period. The word “Bharatnatyam” is composed of the terms, “Bha- Bhavam (means expression), Ra- Ragam (means music), Ta- Talam (means beat or rhythm) and Natyam (means dance). Bharatanatyam is a traditional dance-form known for its grace, purity, tenderness, and sculpturesque poses. Today, it is one of the most popular and widely performed dance styles and is practiced by male and female dancers all over the world.

The philosophy behind this dance is to search the human soul and unite with the Supreme Being. Ms. Revathi Ramachandran is one of the best dancers who really feels and presents to public the meaning of these dances. Her artistic talent was discovered by the great Guru Mangudi Dorairaja Iyer, a Maestro of the Melattur style of Bharathanatyam, and the visionary who revived the Shuddha Nrittam style of Bharathanatyam to make it his principal legacy to his student, Revathi. Revathi gave a lot performances in various parts of India and around the world (USA, Canada, UK, France, Singapore, Rome,Malaysia and the latest is Armenia) receiving great appreciations for her performances. In 1987 she established Kala Sadhanalaya Dance school which grown up by size and talents who are the representatives of Bharatnatyam dances.

IAF Secretary General Ms. Lusine Toroyan addressing the audience

At the end of the event, IAF Secretary General  Ms. Lusine Toroyan on behalf of President Mr. Rananjay Anand and all IAF  members congratulated all organizers and  Bharatnatyam Dance Group for this great event. Ms. Lusine and IAF Vice President Mr. Karen Hovhannisyan presented Ms. Revathi with a Bouquet of flowers and Armenian Souvenirs to her dance group members as a symbol of gratitude on behalf of all IAF members.

IAF Secretary General Ms. Lusine Toroyan in a deep conversation
with Bharatnatyam exponent Ms. Revathi Ramachandran

All audience present in the event were spell-bound with the special dance performances. This evening was one more proof of strong Indo-Armenian relations.

CULTURAL CROSSROAD-RELATIONSHIP INSPIRED

IAF Press Bureau

This world is kaleidoscopic with different cultures and traditions with different types of lifestyles across globe. When these kaleidoscopic colours get converged through the prism of friendship, it takes the strongest shape of Unity and Peace which symbolizes Unity in Diversity. Traditional costumes are identity of any nation as they are representatives of any particular culture. India and Armenia represent world’s two great civilizations with many shared values and it’s quite obvious that their traditional costumes have a very rich history with great relevant connections.

IAF members  with the Chief Guest of the event
H.E. Mr. Achal K. Malhotra, Hon. Ambassador of India to Armenia

In the series of celebrations, Indo-Armenian Friendship NGO aka IAF in collaboration with Embassy of India to Armenia organized an event with the theme “Cultural Crossroad-Relationship Inspired” at Naregatsi Art Institute, Yerevan, Armenia on 10^th April 2012. The event was graced by H.E Mr. Achal Kumar Malhotra as Chief Guest!

The program commenced formally with National Anthems of Armenia and India. 


To begin with, IAF Founder and President Mr. Rananjay Anand introduced the theme of the event to the large audience present in the Jam-packed hall. He emphasized how this group emerged out of love, and how it is important to consider love and respect as a great medium to bridge two different cultures.  He welcomed the audience, the Chief Guest and all other representatives from different media and institutes. He emphasized, how important it is to continue with these kinds of initiatives for a lively relationship among nations. It's need of hour to create a very active environment for people-to-people connection in order to achieve better Global Understanding.

IAF Founder &  President Mr. Rananjay Anand
addressing the event audience

Hon. Ambassador H.E Mr. Achal Kumar Malhotra addressed the audience in a very nostalgic atmosphere, as his very successful tenure is coming to an end this month. He thanked people of Armenia for great love and support and said he is never away from their heart. He had all praise for Indo-Armenian Friendship NGO for making his job easier by holding such events. He recalled how medieval emperor Akbar from India married an Armenian woman Mariam and started a cross-cultural relationship between these two great nations with lots of shared values. He correlated that historical marriage with contemporary Indo-Armenian relationship  and emphasized how this relationship will revisit the lost routes of Indo-Armenian relationship again, as IAF is a flourishing example. He wished a great future for Indo-Armenian Friendship.

Chief Guest of  the event H.E. Mr. Achal K. Malhotra,
Hon. Ambassador of India to Armenia
addressing the event audience

After Ambassador’s speech, Mr. Nareg Haroutunian the director of Naregatsi Art Institute thanked Mr. Ambassador for his great contribution towards Indo-Armenian bilateral relationship building and bid him adieu by offering him POMEGRANATE SOUVENIR as symbol of fertility and prosperity from Armenia. Afterwards he thanked IAF co-founders for their great effort to build this relationship further and said it’s really challenging and his all best wishes are with IAF.

Naregatsi Art Institute Director Mr. Nareg Haroutunian
presenting a Souvenir to H.E. Mr. Achal K. Malhotra

 IAF co-founders having all praises and wish for IAF
from Mr. Nareg Haroutunian

Afterwards the Film Screening of “Six Yards of Grace” started which explained how gracefully Saree has been the most loved attire of Indian women since antiquity. It explained different types of Sarees to be worn in different ways as per diverse cultures of India. After the film screening, Mrs. Ambassador Ms. Anita K. Malhotra demonstrated to the audience live, how to wear a Saree. It was one of the most interesting parts of the show.

Live Sari draping demonstration
by Mrs. Anita K. Malhotra

 Ms. Liana Khachaturyan, an Armenian Puppet artist also participated in the event by showcasing different types of traditional costumes of different regions of Armenia through her different puppets.  IAF General Secretary MS. Lusine Toroyan explained its each and every aspect in detail.

Ms. Liana Khachaturyan, with her different traditional Puppets
showcasing different traditional costumes of Armenia

Lastly, to conclude the program on a very musical note, the very famous Armenian Folk Dance Group “Karin Ethnographic Song & Dance Group” thrilled the audience with their scintillating dancing performances. The group is dedicated to spread Armenian Folk Art among its Armenian youth. The audience applauded the performers with great zeal, as the group presented their performances in traditional Armenian costumes.

Mesmerizing Performance by
"Karin Ethnographic Song & Dance Group"

MEDIA REPORTS:
Public Radio of Armenia (Listen to the audio link)
AZG Newspaper