Panchatantra - Bharatanatyam | Dr Lakshmi Ramaswamy & Nivedita Raghavan |The Indian Dance Experience

Panchatantra

The storytelling tradition of India, travelled through time, generation after generation and
brought us stories and fables that educate us with moral values and principles. One such
collective of stories is the Panchatantra. A series of interlinked stories primarily based on
animals, the Panchatantra has many stories spread across five books/parts. One such story is that
of The Mighty Lion and Clever Rabbit. To save the animals from being eaten up by the lion, the
rabbit hatches a plot to lead him to his own death.
Adapted into a Bharatanatyam composition, the concept and choreography was developed by
Kalaimaamani Dr Lakshmi Ramswamy in the year 2005. Premiered on an Annual day
performance with little children and beginners playing roles of the animals, the item found its
way back to the stage, years later as a solo choreography. High spirited music, simplicity of
lyrics and a colourful choreography keeps the audience engaged along with a refreshing addition
to a traditional Bharatanatyam Margam.

Lyrics: Dr S Raghuraman
Music: Dr Vanaty Raghuraman
Concept & Choreography: Dr Lakshmi Ramaswamy

Dr. Lakshmi Ramaswamy is a United States Fulbright Fellow in Arts and Culture
Management (2000), a ‘TOP’ grade artist of Doordarshan and the First Doctorate in
Bharatanatyam from the University of Madras. Her National fellowships include – the senior
fellowship from the Ministry of Culture, India and from the Music Academy, Chennai. She is
the founder of Sri Mudhraalaya, now 26 years old that has nurtured more than three
generations of dancers. Many of them are marked soloists, graded artists, scholarship holders,
independent teachers and PhD scholars. Apart from the Bharatanatyam repertoire, she has
also choreographed more than 25 productions, including 3 on Sangam Literature. Lakshmi
Ramaswamy has authored books and also guides PhD research scholars. Her galore of
recognitions include ‘Balasaraswathy endowment Award’ & ‘Vedantam Satyanarayana
Award’ from Sri Krishna Gana Sabha; ‘Yuva Kala Bharati’ and 20 years later the Acharya
Kala Bharati from Bharat Kalachar; ‘Kalāchārya Sirōmaņi’ by VDS Arts Academy, ‘Vani
Kala Nipuna’ from Thyaga Brahma Gana Sabha, Senior Dancer Award from Narada Gana
Sabha and Parthasarathy Swami Sabha and the Kalaimamani (State Sangeet Natak Academy)
Award for the year 2011 from the Government of Tamil Nadu.

Nivedita Raghavan is a student of Bharatanatyam, pursuing her training as a senior disciple
of Guru Kalaimaamani Dr Lakshmi Ramswamy. She is currently doing her under graduation
in B Com Accounting and Finance (final year) from Ethiraj College for Women, Chennai.
She is also on the path to become a Chartered Accountant, clearing her Intermediate level in
the first attempt in 2018. 
Nivedita has been learning Bharatanatyam from the age of five, under her guru Dr Lakshmi
Ramaswamy. With the blessings and able guidance of her Guru, she completed her
Arangetram in 2010 and has given numerous group performances in many places like
Chidambaram, Thiruvarur, Delhi, Colombo, etc. She has played significant roles in her
Guru's thematic productions, the main being the role of Vinaya Hanuman in the production
Sundara Kandam. As a solo artiste, she has given many performances in many Sabhas of
Chennai. She is a CCRT Scholarship holder from the Central Government and B Graded
artiste of Doordarshan. She has also received the title of Bharata Kalaimani from
Prayathanam for completing and topping many levels in the examinations. She is also the
recipient of the Guru Sri Subbaraya Pillai Endowment Prize from Krishna Gana Sabha.
Nivedita is also a student of Carnatic music. She has a passion for writing and is an avid
reader too. She has also worked for Aalaap, an arts management and consultancy company
based in Chennai for the past eight months and has helped various artistes in curation,
content and social media. She currently is a performer (solo and group) and a teaching
faculty at Sri Mudhraalaya.


Performance Videos: Archives of Dr Lakshmi Ramaswamy’s Sri Mudhraalaya
Script & Editing: Nivedita Raghavan
Video of Dr Lakshmi Ramaswamy: Jagyaseni Chatterjee
Photos of 25th year Celebration: Santosh Kumar (Sant’s Fotos)
Script & Music of Panchatantra: Dr S Raghuraman & Dr Vanaty Raghuraman
Musicians in recording:
Nattuvangam: Dr Lakshmi Ramaswamy
Vocals: Dr Vanaty Raghuraman
Mridangam: Sri Vedakrishna Ram
Violin: Sri Kalaiarasan
Flute: Sri Devarajan

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