Of Madhurashtakam in Odissi and Freestyle Gotipua

I have been traveling to remote parts of India this last week, interspersing these journeys with brief stopovers in several cities. A few days ago, we were in Bhubaneswar, the capital city of Orissa. While I was there, I had the opportunity to witness an odissi dance performance by students of Guru Gangadhar Pradhan, the founder director of the Orissa Dance Academy.

The odissi performance comprised both free style and themed dances with the incredible footwork and facial/bodily expressions of the dancers themselves telling the stories in rhythmic form. I was happy to watch the ardhanārīśvara performance executed flawlessly by a dancer.

What however captured me through the rest of the evening was the rendition of madhurāṣṭakam. I simply adore this devotional song, having first heard it rendered by that doyen of carnatic music, M S Subbulakshmi, several years ago. The melody and her voice are still in my memory. The song itself was composed by Sri Vallabhacharya in the 16th century. It is dedicated to Krishna – and speaks about the “honey-sweetness” of his persona and all his actions – in eight verses, hence the term, madhurāṣṭakam. It runs as follows:

अधरं मधुरं वदनं मधुरं नयनं मधुरं हसितं मधुरम्।
हृदयं मधुरं गमनं मधुरं मधुराधिपतेरखिलं मधुरम् ॥ १
वचनं मधुरं चरितं मधुरं वसनं मधुरं वलितं मधुरम्।
चलितं मधुरं भ्रमितं मधुरं मधुराधिपतेरखिलं मधुरम्॥ २
वेणुर्मधुरो रेणुर्मधुरः पाणिर्मधुरः पादौ मधुरौ।
नृत्यं मधुरं सख्यं मधुरं मधुराधिपतेरखिलं मधुरम् ॥ ३
गीतं मधुरं पीतं मधुरं भुक्तं मधुरं सुप्तं मधुरम्।
रूपं मधुरं तिलकं मधुरं मधुराधिपतेरखिलं मधुरम् ॥ ४
करणं मधुरं तरणं मधुरं हरणं मधुरं रमणं मधुरम्।
वमितं मधुरं शमितं मधुरं मधुराधिपतेरखिलं मधुरम् ॥ ५
गुञ्जा मधुरा बाला मधुरा यमुना मधुरा वीची मधुरा।
सलिलं मधुरं कमलं मधुरं मधुराधिपतेरखिलं मधुरम् ॥ ६
गोपी मधुरा लीला मधुरा युक्तं मधुरं मुक्तं मधुरम्।
दृष्टं मधुरं शिष्टं मधुरं मधुराधिपतेरखिलं मधुरम् ॥ ७
गोपा मधुरा गावो मधुरा यष्टिर्मधुरा सृष्टिर्मधुरा।
दलितं मधुरं फलितं मधुरं मधुराधिपतेरखिलं मधुरम् ॥ ८

adharaṁ madhuraṁ vadanaṁ madhuraṁ nayanaṁ madhuraṁ hasitaṁ madhuram
hṛdayaṁ madhuraṁ gamanaṁ madhuraṁ madhurādhipaterakhilaṁ madhuram

vacanaṁ madhuraṁ caritaṁ madhuraṁ vasanaṁ madhuraṁ valitaṁ madhuram
calitaṁ madhuraṁ bhramitaṁ madhuraṁ madhurādhipaterakhilaṁ madhuram

veṇurmadhuro reṇurmadhuraḥ pāṇirmadhuraḥ pādau madhurau
nṛtyaṁ madhuraṁ sakhyaṁ madhuraṁ madhurādhipaterakhilaṁ madhuram

gītaṁ madhuraṁ pītaṁ madhuraṁ bhuktaṁ madhuraṁ suptaṁ madhuram
rūpaṁ madhuraṁ tilakaṁ madhuraṁ madhurādhipaterakhilaṁ madhuram

karaṇaṁ madhuraṁ taraṇaṁ madhuraṁ haraṇaṁ madhuraṁ ramaṇaṁ madhuram
vamitaṁ madhuraṁ śamitaṁ madhuraṁ madhurādhipaterakhilaṁ madhuram

guñjā madhurā bālā madhurā yamunā madhurā vīcī madhurā
salilaṁ madhuraṁ kamalaṁ madhuraṁ madhurādhipaterakhilaṁ madhuram

gopī madhurā līlā madhurā yuktaṁ madhuraṁ muktaṁ madhuram
dṛṣṭaṁ madhuraṁ śiṣṭaṁ madhuraṁ madhurādhipaterakhilaṁ madhuram

gopā madhurā gāvo madhurā yaṣṭirmadhurā sṛṣṭirmadhurā
dalitaṁ madhuraṁ phalitaṁ madhuraṁ madhurādhipaterakhilaṁ madhuram

I’ve added a few pictures of the performance below.

The odissi performance was followed by the gotipua performance. Gotipua, I was reliably informed, is the precursor to odissi and is performed by boys dressed in female garbs and costumes. The word literally means goti – one, pua – boy in Oriya. The gotipuas lead a life of rigorous training and exercise under the supervision of their teachers. These young dancers are able to execute several acrobatic postures, a hallmark of gotipua, flawlessly. We watched four young lads, all under 10-years of age, perform dances like thayee nata, pallavi, abhinaya and bandha nrutya, leaving us spellbound in time.

All told, an evening well spent experiencing one of India’s ancient dance forms.

Peace
S