Kamala - The tenth and final Mahavidya is Goddess Kamala.

She is
considered the supreme form of the Mother Goddess who is in her ultimate
graceful aspect. She is often referred to as Tantric Lakshmi. The goddess in
the form of Kamala bestows prosperity, wealth, fertility, good harvest, and
good luck. Kamala is related to material wellbeing and worldly comforts,
and represents the mundane state of consciousness. We present a beautiful
kriti on Kamala in her form as Lakshmi.

CREDITS
We offer our salutations to our guru, Professor Sudharani Ragupathy, for
her unwavering guidance and support throughout our artistic journey. We
seek the blessings of the late Vidwan Madurai Sri N. Krishnan who serves
Dasa Mahavidya
as a constant source of inspiration and knowledge.

Direction/Choreography- Srimathy Mohan & Priya Murle SHE is Omniscient

Dancers- Lekha Prasad, Sneha Mahesh, Vaibu Mohan, Aishwarya Rajkumar,
Meera Rajaraman A Thematic Bharatanatyam Presentation
Music Curation & Advisor- R.K. Shriramkumar
Sound and Lights- R R Sabha, Krishnan and Sons
Event Photography/Videography- Chella Vaidhyanathan
Costumes- Alexander, Ranjana Tailors

Chennai Music Team New York Music Team

Navarathri Nrtyotsava - 2023
Vocal - Amritha Murali Composition- Vaibu Mohan and Greg
Rasika Ranjani Sabha
Violin - R. K. Shriramkumar, Madan Paladino
Mohan Vocal - Vaibu Mohan
Mylapore, Chennai
Mridangam - K. Arunprakash Mridangam/Kanjira - Bala Skandan
Ghatam - N. Guruprasad Piano, Accordion - Greg Paladino
25 October 2023, 7 pm
Nattuvangam - Priya Murle Guitar - Tonie Nguyen
Veena - Anjani Sreenivasan Mandolin- McKinley Foster
Percussion - K. R. Violin - Vaibu Mohan
Venkatasubramanian Bass - Kat Cartusciello, Mohan Presented by
Recorded, Mixed & Mastered by- Biju Ritsema
James Percussion - Ryan Blihovde, Brooke
Kalaimamani Smt. Priya Murle,
Assisted by - Abin Ponnachan Trumm Dr. Srimathy Mohan & disciples
Recorded at - InspiredOne Studios, Orchestration - Greg Paladino
Chennai Recording - Ajay Raghuraman, Ryan
Blihovde
Mixing and Mastering - Ryan Blihvode
Recorded at - Sosh Studios, New York
Bhairavi - In her physical form, Bhairavi is one of the fiercest Mahavidyas. It Our story begins with Goddess Sati transforming into the Divine Mother and
is often said that Bhairavi represents divine wrath but it is only one facet of revealing her ten forms to Lord Shiva.
her fierce, maternal protectiveness aimed at the destruction of ignorance
and anything negative that keeps us in bondage. Bhairavi can be Kali - The first among the Māhāvidhyas is Kali. She is the fiercest. Her hair is
interpreted and worshiped in many ways but at her core, she represents loose and wild. Yet, Kali is actually the representation of consciousness in its
humanity’s multi-faceted nature and urges us to embrace all of them. The highest form. Kali fought a fearsome demon named Ratkabija who was
kriti that we present pleads for her protection and grace. seemingly unkillable. When his blood spilled on the ground, a hundred more
demons sprung forth. Eventually, Kali swallowed Raktabija’s blood and his
Chinnamastha - Chinnamastha is the self-decapitated Mahavidya who is reign of terror came to an end. This story symbolizes the human mind’s
holding her own head in her hands. Legend states that Parvati was walking normal state of awareness. By meditating on Kali, we can allow the constant
with her friends Dakini and Varnini who repeatedly demanded that their motions of our minds to cease and focus on our current state of being.
hunger be satisfied immediately. Parvati laughed, took her fingernail, and
cut off her own head. Immediately, blood spurted in three directions. Her Tara - Tara is the goddess of compassion and protection. When the devas
friends drank from two directions and the Goddess herself drank from the and asuras were churning the milky sea, a potent poison sprang up from the
third. Iconographically, the severed head symbolizes ultimate sacrifice and earth and endangered all living souls, Lord Shiva drank the poison to save the
liberation. The goddess Mariamman enshrined in many temples in South world but fell unconscious due to its powerful effect. The Mother Goddess
India is a manifestation of Chinnamastha form. appeared as Tara and nursed Shiva to counteract the effects of the poison.
So, Tara is considered the universal mother. Tara is one of the most
Dhumavati - Dhumavati is the personification of the dark aspects of life, identifiable and worshiped deities in Tibetan Buddhism. We meditate upon
the things we would rather forget or ignore. She is represented as a widow, the mother through an orchestral piece inspired by the Tara chant.
with smoke colored skin, old and covered in ragged clothes. Dhumavati
represents the erosive power of time that robs us of loved ones, or Sundari - The third Mahavidya, Sundari, also known as Tripurasundari is “the
strength and vitality, social status, and everything else that to our fragile one whose beauty precedes the three worlds”. She is also known by many
happiness on this earth. She empowers us inwardly to reach for the other names including Shodashi, Lalita, Kamala, and Rajarajeshwari. Sundari
highest, and there is nothing to stop us once we are resolved. In a world represents the state of complete awareness and our ability to experience the
where a widow faces several hurdles, the form of Dhumavathi iterates the universe within the unity of consciousness. Even if we are not at that level of
fact that all women should be accorded immense respect and regard. consciousness, She reminds us to see the beauty in the world around us.
Even in mundanity, there is wonder. Muttuswami Dikshitar’s kriti on
Bagalamukhi - Known as the goddess who paralyzes enemies, Bagalamukhi Kamalambika beautifully describes the compassionate and beautiful one,
has earned this name because of her ability to silence speech and still the seated in the central bindu of the Sri Chakra as divine omniscience,
mind. This is a state that helps someone find peace and higher states of manifesting both as the Supreme and the empirical.
consciousness. Due to her powers of paralysis, she is also known as the
Devi of Stambhana. Bagalamukhi instils in us the need to be aware of our Bhuvaneswari - The fourth Mahavidya is also known as the Empress of the
speech and focus on inner silence. Universe - Bhuvaneswari. When Brahma began creating the universe, he sank
into a deep state of meditation to invite the energy of creation. But he was
Mathangi - Mathangi is also known as the Tantric Saraswati as she governs unable to bring it forward by himself; so the Mother Goddess took the form
speech, music, knowledge, and art. Mathangi is sometimes painted as a wild of Bhuvaneswari to aide in the creation of the universe. Bhuvaneshwari is
and ecstatic outcast as many of the Mahavidyas are. She challenges the associated with the here and now. Our ability to live in our current reality and
normally accepted concepts and values in an established social order. She appreciate where we are in this moment. She is actively involved with the
aims to show us that all existence is pervaded by the goddess. We present a conduct, maintenance and protection of the world and this existence. We
beautiful kriti on Goddess Meenkashi, also a representation of Mathangi. present a kiriti describing all the glory of Goddess Bhuvaneswari.