Mallika Sarabhai to pay tribute to ‘bhajans’ in US

Danseuse Mallika Sarabhai and her troupe from Darpana will present an array of performances, in tribute to the Indian devotional ‘bhajans’, across the US in October. Titled ‘Sampradayam’, this tribute will use the Indian classical dance Bharat Natyam as the medium.

The first performance will take place on October 2, in Charlotte in North Carolina. Sampradayam will then be performed on October 8 in Washington DC, on October 9 in New York, on October 14 in Norton, Massachusetts and on October 17 in Cleveland. 

In-between, Sarabhai will also put forth a dance performance titled ‘India: Then, Now, Forever’ on October 6 in Chicago. The same will then be performed on October 16 in Milpitas in California.
‘Bhajans’ or devotional songs in the Indian tradition, have always enjoyed a very important position in worship in India. They have been the mainstay of music in Hinduism. However, over the last couple of decades, bhajans have been increasingly influenced by film music and ghazals, classical music and western instruments.

In a move to counter this and find the real community flavour of bhajans, there has been a revival of devotional music in its pure form, without any heavy instrumentation, in southern India. Sampradayam is a tribute to these almost-lost bhajans of Indian tradition.