Swara Samaroh is presented as part of Ekam — Concert Series, an initiative that creates a shared space for performance and listening. Rooted in lineage and continuity, Ekam foregrounds Indian classical arts as living traditions sustained through disciplined practice and lived artistic experience. The series invites reflection and dialogue, allowing audiences to encounter classical forms in their depth, integrity, and contemporary resonance.
Bharatanatyam and Sthree Bharatam are two tributaries flowing from the great river of Devadasi Bharatam. Both share a common ritual and performative context in which devadasis once performed, yet their journeys through time and space have shaped distinct identities. Emerging from different regions, they embody unique “her-stories,” with distinct body techniques, repertoires, and approaches to music and literature. While Bharatanatyam, transformed from Sadir, has grown into a globally recognised classical tradition, Sthree Bharatam, rooted in the practices of the Telugu Devadasis (Kalavantulu), carries a rich cultural, social, and religious history that shaped the artistic identity of the Telugu-speaking regions. These artistes occupied an esteemed place in society, performing in temples, royal courts, and public spaces as custodians of ritual, poetry, music, and embodied knowledge. Presented together, these forms offer audiences a rare opportunity to experience the depth, grace, power, and beauty of intertwined Devadasi traditions on one stage.
The evening features two distinguished artistes whose work honours lineage while opening space for dialogue.
Sushri Meenakshi Srinivasan is a celebrated Bharatanatyam danseuse, widely regarded by critics as an artiste of rare sublimity and inner power. Her training and artistic foundation were shaped under Padma Bhushan Guru Alarmel Valli, and she is known for her architecturally precise movement vocabulary, luminous abhinaya, and an exceptional ability to dissolve the boundary between dancer and dance. Trained also as an architect, she brings to the stage a refined geometric clarity infused with poetic emotion. Her performances have been described as transcendent, sculptural, and emotionally immersive, marked by stillness, restraint, and deep expressive intelligence. A recipient of the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar from the Central Sangeet Natak Akademi, and honours including Natya Kala Vipanchee, Natya Kala Dharshini, and Nrtya Abhinaya Sundaram, she is an empanelled ICCR artiste and a “Top Grade” performer of Doordarshan, and is recognised as one of the foremost Bharatanatyam artistes of her generation.
Sushri Purva Dhanashree is among the very few artistes deeply proficient in both Bharatanatyam and Sthree Bharatam, and is widely respected for her mastery of technique and depth of abhinaya. Trained intensively under Padma Bhushan Guru Swapnasundari, she carries forward the Telugu Devadasi tradition with authenticity, sensitivity, and embodied understanding shaped through years of rigorous immersion. Critics have noted the clarity of movement, expressive immediacy, and fluidity that distinguish her Sthree Bharatam presentations, drawing audiences into an intimate and participatory aesthetic experience. Her performances reveal a commitment that allows the form’s layered musicality, ritual context, and emotive nuance to unfold with clarity and quiet authority. A recipient of the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar, Jayadev Puraskar, and Devadasi Sashimani Devi Smriti Puraskar, she is a “Top Grade” Doordarshan artiste and an empanelled performer with ICCR and SPIC MACAY. As a performer, teacher, and cultural ambassador, she has played a vital role in restoring the sacred, refined, and expressive dimensions of Sthree Bharatam to the contemporary classical stage.
Swara Samaroh is an invitation—to beauty, to tradition, and to reflection. Rooted in classical precision and lyrical expressivity, this performance reaffirms the core vision of Ekam — Concert Series: to honour lineage while offering a platform where histories are listened to and classical arts speak meaningfully to the present.
Presented By: Rasāmṛta
Duration 180 mins. No interval
Tickets : €20 (Rows A-F rows) and €18 (Rows K-O)
Family of 4 €70 euros
Family of 2 €36 euros
