Arts
The legendary artist who felt the heart beat of the nation
Birth Anniversary of Dr. Panibharata falls today:
by Ranga Chandrarathne
[email protected]
A legend in his own times and an iconic figure that shaped the
contours of the Sri Lankan artistic legacy, Dr. Panibharata's death
anniversary falls on 24th. Known for his larger than life personality
which pervaded the arena of Sri Lankan dance for over half a decade, Dr.
Pani Bharata's rich legacy does not confine to his chosen craft of
dancing but branches out to other areas of arts such as painting and
sculpturing.
 It is a very little known fact, that Dr. Panibharata was well verse
in paintings and sculpturing. As true to the words of his son-in-law,
Channa Wijewardene, Dr. Panibharata had all the attribute of a genius
who excelled not only in diverse Indian traditions of dancing such as
Kata Kal, which he studied in India, but also was an authority on Sri
Lankan folks dances. Personality is something which is lacking in most
of contemporary teachers of dancing.
Dr. Panibharata used to spend days on drawing and paintings. His
unique colour code consisted of natural colours such as earthly colours
and tones. He was very much into autumn colours, perhaps, due to the
link of the colours of the costumes with the sun. Dr. Panibharata
epitomised the sheer depth and the philosophy of Sri Lankan dancing
though he was equally at home with Indian classical dance forms.
Perhaps, his forte was his innate ability to adapt Indian classical
dance forms in order to decorate and beautify Sri Lankan tradition.
Having been mastered almost all the traditional drams of India, Dr.
Panibharata attempted to improvise Indian drum beats on Sri Lankan drums
and was the pioneer in designing the Orchestra of Drums.
He was very much concerned about the sound effect which was created
by the diverse forms of drums in the orchestra and devised conclusion of
the performance mimicking the toning down of light in the sun-set.
Panibharata was used to pitching the drums to the sound of conscience,
which is, believed, to be the link to God. He even pitched his voice to
match the beat of the drum.
One of the salient characteristics of his major work was his attempt
to portray village life on stage. This is amply manifested in his first
choreograph 'Goyam Kapilla' (reaping paddy) which was performed at the
visit of Queen Elizabeth to the Regal Theatre in 1952.
Here Dr. Pani Bharata re-created the scene in a Sri Lankan typical
village where the village lasses reaping the bounty harvest of paddy.
In an agricultural society, reaping the harvest is a very important
occasion which captures the essence of the life in Sri Lankan
traditional village. In the creation, Dr. Pani Bharata not only
portrayed the reaping of the harvest but also the elements of fulfilment,
sense of abundance and prosperity associated with the occasion.
'Graha Apalaya' is a choreography on nine planets and their
movements. Here in this choreography he used different techniques to
represent different planets. Among his other creations, 'Sath Pathvini'
(Goddess of Pathvini) is prominent.
According to Channa Wijewardene, Dr. Pani Bharata dreamt of composing
a choreograph on 'Sadakada pahana', the medieval crescent-shaped
threshold which was a common feature in ancient Sri Lanka.
Among his numerous achievements, the founding of the Aesthetic
Section of the University of Kelaniya contributed towards up lifting the
standards of Sri Lankan dancing to the level of a discipline, setting
standards in teaching and performing dance.
During his tenure as the Principal of the Institute of Music, Dr.
Panibharata worked hard to upgrader it to a fully-fledged university. He
was the perfect candidate for the post as he was well versed in Indian
classical dance techniques such as Bharata and Kathakali as well as up
country and low-county dancing, another characteristic was his powerful
voice which could be heard from a very distance.
This powerful voice added another dimension to his performance as it
was the manifestation of the technique which spell-bound the audience.
Being versatile in diverse fields of arts from dancing to sculpture,
Kalashuri Dr. Panibharata took the first step towards the formulation of
a syllabus for Sri Lankan traditional dance.
Panibharata compiled the collective knowledge and unique tradition of
Sri Lankan dance forms; Udarata (up country), pahata rata (low Country)
and Sabaragamuwa traditions of dance which had been handed down from
generation to generation over the years.
These unique dancing traditions were in danger of total extinction
due to the practice of Guru Mushtiya (where the teacher will not impart
certain portions of knowledge thus depriving the next generation of that
part).
On one occasion during one of his tours abroad, when a professor
could not express to an audience, Dr. Panibharata addressed the audience
by way of performing diverse Sri Lankan traditions of dancing which was
understood by the audience. It was one occasion when his will power was
manifested. Dr.Panibharata was a man ahead of his time.
In order to motivate the viewers, he had deliberately unfinished his
sculptures and even the house he lived in, as the unfinished work always
inspires the beholder.
Perhaps, the greatest tribute that the present generation can pay to
the man who scarified his entire life for Sri Lankan dancing is to
preserve traditional Sri Lankan dancing and to make more and more
creation based on traditional forms of dancing while deriving the best
from traditions of the world.
Jana Karaliya now at Thambuttegama
The Janakaraliya Drama Troupe that performed drama and theatre
programmes in the Hambantota District during the recent past with the
assistance of the Ministry of Cultural Affairs and National Heritage, is
making preparation to hold their next programmes in the Thambuttegama
Educational Zone shortly.
 A Jana Karaliya drama festival is scheduled to be held at the 'Janakaraliya
Mobile Theatre' assembled in the 'Thambuttegama Mahaweli Grounds' from
today to the 26th for schoolchildren and the public of the locale.
Dramas to be staged during the festival are; 'Charandas' - which
bagged 09 awards at the 'State Drama Festival - 2006' in both Sinhala
and Tamil mediums, Seethambarapataya (Script - Mangala Senanayake),
Andara Mal, Makaraksha (Adoptation by Cyril C Perera), Wahalage Maranaya,
Kalpanthaya, Suralowak Koheda Wena, and two children's dramas 'Dev Lova
Gamana' and Soru Evilla (Script - Sumith Samarasinghe).
After the drama festival, an International Film festival and a
photographic exhibition will be held at the 'Janakaraliya Mobile
Theatre' from March 1-6 at the same venue.In addition to staging of
dramas and screening of films ' Drama and Theatre workshops' will be
held for the teachers and schoolchildren within the Thambuttegama
Educational Zone with the view to enhance creativity and upgrading
artistic and entertaining skills of teachers and students.
Janakaraliya theatre art programme will be directed and administrated
by Parakrama Niriella, H. A. Perera, Dilip Rohana and Ravindra
Mapitigama. The programme will be coordinated by Avanthi Udukumbura and
managed by Nishantha Kularathne.
Lankan artistes invited to Hong Kong gallery
A Sri Lankan born artist, Sarathchandra Seneviratne who has been
running his private art gallery in Hong Kong invites Sri Lankan artistes
to send their entries to be displayed at an international exhibition
scheduled to be held from February 5 April 30.
Seneviratne who is known as SARASENE served as the head of the
graphic section at Lake House in the 80s and migrated to Hong Kong. He
worked for several international newspapers and magazines there for over
two decades as a graphic expert and later joined Lake House as a graphic
consultant in 2002.
After a short spell at Lake House, he returned to HK to run his own
gallery, SARASENE, and he expects to display all entries sent to him at
this gallery, which could be the first art gallery run by a Sri Lankan.
"We have arranged a grand international exhibition for cartoonists,
illustrators, caricaturists and comic artists to participate at this
exhibition and they could send any number of entries.
Participants will get a certificate from the International
Cartoonists and Graphics Organisation from USA and some prices too. They
can send their entries now by post and or e mail them with high
resolution jpeg format to the following addresses", he said.
or post to
SARASEN International Gallery Plus
C/o Menaka Sen / Gallery Manager
5A, Winner Building
Lan Kwai Fong
D'Agiliar Street
Central
Hong Kong.
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