Surya Pranam Mangalacharan opens Odissi Amrit presented by Manasa - Art Without Frontiers

NGO Manasa-Art Without Frontiers was founded by Sharon Lowen and inaugurated in 1995 by Bharat Ratna Pt. Ravi Shankar.
Surya Pranam
Adi Devam Namskritya First God, I bow to you bless me God of Light
This is Followed by the Gayatri Mantra -
Om Bhu Bhuvar swa Tat Savitur Varenyam - the pure god of light,
Bhargo devasya dhi mahi -Gloriously pervading the Universe and bringing us bounty. Dhiyo yonah prachodayat - direct our intellect to lift us out of this world
After the symbolic creation of a four-sided havan for the sacrificial fire. In lines from the Adhitya Hridayam from Valmiki's Ramayana, Surya is described driving a chariot pulled by 7 horses, Lord of the sky, Remover of darkness, beyond the Vedas, through torrential rains, a true friend, galloping over the Vindhya mountains, giving blessings to the world, destroying sin and worries and increasing the life span of all.
The dance includes obeisance to Mother Earth and concludes with the greeting to the audience, eight directions, and the Trikhandi pranam to God, Guru and the distinguished audience.
Surya pranam was choreographed for the Launch of the Indo-US Science and Technology Forum for the Govt of India Dept of Science & Technology in the year 2000. It is set to the Odia 4 beat tala- Ektali and Ragas: Bairagi, Bhoopali and Bhairavi. Dancers are Nitisha Nanda, Pragya Ghosh, Pooja Kumar, Chigusa Kamamasu, Perrine Legoullon, Devyani Sharma.

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