Nasadiya Sukta, presented by them as a part of the Kalavati Dance Festival 2026 organised by Manipuri Nartanalaya at Gyan Manch recently, was a fine articulation of a complex philosophical hypothesis. The piece turns to that moment before creation when nothing existed and attempts to look at life, death and consciousness as an endless journey. Using the idiom of Manipuri dance, the choreographers borrow from the imagery of Pakhangba, the primordial, snake-like deity of the Meitei people, protector of their land, to embody the cycle of time. ADVERTISEMENTIn Nasadiya Sukta, the story of life’s unbroken cycle unfolds through Sudipto Chakraborty’s haunting music and the evocative set conceived by Hemant Vishwakarma and Mira Singh. The festival, dedicated to the doyenne of Manipuri dance in Calcutta, Kalavati Devi, also featured Subikash Mukherjee in an Odissi dance recital and Paramita Maitra and her ensemble in a Kathak performance.

Source: The Telegraph February 21, 2026 06:15 UTC