New Delhi, October 23 (TNA) Sampradaayam Cultural Trust performed Draupadi, a Kuchipudi dance drama exploring women’s dignity, self-esteem, injustice and resistance, at the BHIM Auditorium of the Dr Ambedkar International Centre (DAIC), New Delhi, on Thursday evening.
The production was conceived and choreographed by Swathy Somanath, a top-grade Doordarshan artiste and Director and Principal of Sampradaayam Kuchipudi Gurukulam, who also performed the title role.
The script is by Telugu writer Volga, recipient of the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2015, author of The Liberation of Sita and known for her feminist writing. Through the language of Kuchipudi, the performance delved into themes of feminine strength, agency, resilience and the continued fight for justice.
The script is by Telugu writer Volga, recipient of the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2015, author of The Liberation of Sita and known for her feminist writing. Through the language of Kuchipudi, the performance delved into themes of feminine strength, agency, resilience and the continued fight for justice.
The production did not simply retell the Mahabharata. It presented Draupadi as an embodiment of Shakti, the feminine force that endures, protects and refuses to be silenced. Born of fire, humiliated in a royal assembly, driven to vow revenge and finally walking her last journey to the Himalayas, her life is, in this telling, a continuous act of questioning injustice and asserting dignity on her own terms.
The production traced Draupadi’s journey from birth to her final journey through five thematic episodes: Mother Earth, Birth of Draupadi, Draupadi Vastraharan, Draupadi’s Revenge and Mahaprasthanam. Together, these episodes explored her experiences of love, suffering, humiliation, faith, anger, resistance and detachment, portraying a woman whose story continues to provoke reflection on power, accountability, dignity and free will.
The production opened with Draupadi as Vasundhara, Mother Earth, enduring suffering while sustaining the Pandavas, and moves to her birth from the sacred fire of Drupada’s yajna. In Draupadi Vastraharan, publicly humiliated in the royal court, she turns to Krishna in faith, is divinely protected and still speaks out against the injustice before her.
In Draupadi’s Revenge, humiliation hardens into a vow, and anger turns into determination and the pursuit of justice. Mahaprasthanam follows her final journey to the Himalayas, where she is the first to fall, her death a reminder of mortality and the lasting strength of her spirit.
In Draupadi’s Revenge, humiliation hardens into a vow, and anger turns into determination and the pursuit of justice. Mahaprasthanam follows her final journey to the Himalayas, where she is the first to fall, her death a reminder of mortality and the lasting strength of her spirit.
At the centre of the evening was the question Draupadi puts to the royal court after she is staked in a game of dice her husband Yudhishthira had already lost himself in: did he lose himself first, or her? The elders, teachers and kings present give her no satisfactory answer. It was that failure to answer, rather than the humiliation itself, that the production set out to examine.
“Draupadi is remembered for what was done to her. We wanted to put on stage what she did: she questioned the most powerful men of her time to their faces, and she didn't stop asking. To bring that question into a hall in Delhi, and to bring students from a village in Srikakulam with it, is why we made this work,” said Swathy Somanath, Concept and Choreography, and Director and Principal, Sampradaayam Cultural Trust.
The production also brought together a creative team. Volga wrote the script. Garimella Gopalakrishna, who holds a record for 37 hours of continuous violin playing, composed the music, and N. Suresh Prasad, a tabla player and composer, served as music director.
The performance featured D. Mehar Prabhakar, a classical dancer and actor who performed at Kartavya Path on Republic Day 2023; Loka Chandra Shekhar Reddy, an Andhra Natyam and Kuchipudi exponent trained under Padma Shri Dr Nataraja Ramakrishna; Uppada Geethika, who has trained under Swathy Somanath for over eight years; and Korra Balaram, senior disciple and teaching assistant at Sampradaayam, who has performed in the UK, USA and Malaysia.
The performance featured D. Mehar Prabhakar, a classical dancer and actor who performed at Kartavya Path on Republic Day 2023; Loka Chandra Shekhar Reddy, an Andhra Natyam and Kuchipudi exponent trained under Padma Shri Dr Nataraja Ramakrishna; Uppada Geethika, who has trained under Swathy Somanath for over eight years; and Korra Balaram, senior disciple and teaching assistant at Sampradaayam, who has performed in the UK, USA and Malaysia.