{"id":37578,"date":"2017-02-17T15:10:21","date_gmt":"2017-02-17T09:40:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/globalpress.hinduismnow.org\/?p=37578"},"modified":"2017-02-17T15:10:21","modified_gmt":"2017-02-17T09:40:21","slug":"kathak-performance-shivas-ardhangini-avatar-will-promote-gender-equality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/?p=37578","title":{"rendered":"A kathak performance on Shiva\u2019s Ardhangini avatar will promote gender equality"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Traditionally, in Indian mythology, Shiva is associated with destruction. He\u2019s a third of the holy trinity \u2013 Bramha (the creator), Vishnu (the caretaker), Mahesh (another name for Shiva, the destructor) \u2014 and his all-consuming third eye ends humanity as we know it. In contrast, Shiva is also portrayed in his hermit-like form, living in the Himalayas.<br \/>\n\u201cBut there is another legend about Shiva that doesn\u2019t pertain to either of his popular depictions \u2014 the inventor of dance, Nataraj,\u201d says kathak dancer Anuj Mishra (30). A student of kathak exponent Pt Birju Maharaj, and a Sangeet Natak Akademi award winner (2012), Mishra is set to showcase the creative side of Shiva through a recital, at the NCPA, Nariman Point.<br \/>\nThe performance, titled An Ode to Shiva, will see Mishra portray Shiva in the Nataraj form, and trace the history of kathak from its first reference in mythology \u2013 in demon king Ravana\u2019s penance. \u201cRavana was a devout follower of Shiva, and he wrote the Shiva Stotram (a poetic tribute to the god). It spoke of Shiva\u2019s greatness, valour, grace, and ability to love. As legend has it, Ravana\u2019s devotion was so powerful that lord Shiva danced to the Stotram,\u201d says Mishra.<\/p>\n<div class=\"float-div right-dt inline-photo\">\n<div style=\"width: 404px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\" td-modal-image\" src=\"http:\/\/www.hindustantimes.com\/rf\/image_size_960x540\/HT\/p2\/2017\/02\/15\/Pictures\/_482e6590-f394-11e6-bee8-7b74d3637aa8.jpg\" width=\"394\" height=\"540\" \/><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mishra is a Sangeet Natak Akademi award winner (2012). (Photo courtesy: NCPA)<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>As Shiva, Mishra will perform the emotions showcased in the Stotram, more prominently the Anand Tandav (portraying joy) and Rudra Tandav (portraying anger and destruction). To focus on Shiva\u2019s romantic disposition, Mishra will perform a recital that focuses on the former\u2019s Ardhangini avatar \u2013 half man, half woman. The Ardhangini propagates equality between a man and a woman. What sets this recital apart is its conscious portrayal of Parvati in her normal state \u2014 not as godess Kali, the murderer, or Shakti, the goddess of power.<\/p>\n<div id=\"inarticle_wrapper_div\"><\/div>\n<p>\u201cShiva is the only god within the trinity who has a monogamous relationship. Shiva and Parvati have appeared throughout mythology in different avatars, but always together. They also maintain absolute equality between genders \u2013 both are capable of a meditative state, and of hyper-destruction.\u201d<br \/>\n<b>Be there: An Ode to Shiva will be staged on February 17, 7pm<br \/>\nWhere: Experimental Theatre, NCPA, Nariman Point; Tickets: Rs 200 onward on bookmyshow.com <\/b><b><\/b><\/p>\n<div class=\"float-div right-dt inline-photo\">\n<div style=\"width: 368px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"td-modal-image\" src=\"http:\/\/www.hindustantimes.com\/rf\/image_size_960x540\/HT\/p2\/2017\/02\/15\/Pictures\/_83582d18-f394-11e6-bee8-7b74d3637aa8.jpg\" width=\"358\" height=\"540\" \/><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">As Shiva, Mishra will perform the emotions showcased in the Shiva Stotram. (Photo courtesy: NCPA)<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n<div class=\"para-txt\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Traditionally, in Indian mythology, Shiva is associated with destruction. He\u2019s a third of the holy trinity \u2013 Bramha (the creator), Vishnu (the caretaker), Mahesh (another name for Shiva, the destructor) \u2014 and his all-consuming third eye ends humanity as we know it. In contrast, Shiva is also portrayed in his hermit-like form, living in the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37578"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=37578"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37578\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=37578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=37578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=37578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}