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Published on September 22, 2007

Ankle bracelets jingling with his every move, classical Indian dancer Rajesh Vasudevan is unveiling not just the characters of Hindu deities but the deeper meanings that lie beneath.

In his dance of Shiva, Vasudevan's body flows smoothly, his shining eyes opened wide in a face that radiates joy.

To bring Ganesh to life, he swings one arm out in front - it's not difficult for the audience to recognise the trunk of the elephant god. 

Shiva, Krishna, the goddess Durga, and Ganesh are no strangers to a Thai culture that has long been influenced by Indian civilisation. Yet the meanings behind each god are not quite as familiar as the figures.  

Hindu gods have always enjoyed a very high place in Indian Art, especially in the fields of dance and music. They feature large in all Indian classical dance, says Vasudevan, who performed and talked recently at Bangkok's National Museum as a guest of the National Museum Volunteers Organisation.

Now head of English at Bangkok's Modern International School, Vasudevan's passion for dance hasn't waned since he left the shores of his native Kerala, southern India. He has performed at the International Dance Day Festival held in Bangkok every April.

"The supreme being has three functions to perform," he explains. "Brahma is the god of creation or gestation. Vishnu is the god of operation and Shiva the god of destruction. You can form the word "god" as an acronym of gestation, operation and destruction to signify this holy trinity. Everything on earth is based on them."

Each god has his or her own personality and significance. "We can see them as one but we cannot treat them as one," says Vasudevan, who focused his undivided attention on each deity he danced during his performance. 

Gods manifest in many different forms in different periods of time and with different purposes. He cites for example Vishnu, who can appear in shapes as varied as a fish, Rama or Krishna. The purpose of Krishna's incarnation was to bring light to the multitude struggling in the darkness of ignorance.

Shiva, responsible for acts of destruction, is considered one who oversees the different stages of human lives. Hindu mythology has it that Shiva once took a female form and killed a demon. The destruction in this case was positive as it allowed new life to emerge from out of the shadow of evil.

Though most commonly seen in the form of an elephant's head with four arms, Ganesh figures shouldn't be interpreted as animals. "It is a representation of man, using animal characteristics. The big head symbolises thinking big and the small eyes signify concentration," the dancer explains. 

Vasudevan performs in the Bharatnatyam tradition, a classical dance from southern India. Originating in the temples of Tamil Nadu, this form is rich in the iconography of the region.

Although different dance traditions have grown up across the subcontinent, they are all rooted in the Natyasastra, a Sanskrit treatise on the art of dance written between 400BC and 200AD. The Natyasastra is also the founding text for traditional dances in Burma, Indonesia and Thailand. 

"There are no special occasions for this style of dancing. Indian performers dance when they are happy," explains Vasudevan, whose dancing career first took shape beneath the gaze of masters twenty years ago in India. "Gods are in you and me - in all creation," he adds.

After undergoing extensive training, he has performed in countries all over the world.

Though the dances are a spiritual experience for him, Vasudevan doesn't see the characters portrayed as gods per se. "Gods are only ideas. Nobody has even seen gods. It's man who creates gods. A dancer has the freedom to experience and is therefore able to create new forms and postures." 

To convey the message to the audience, he adds, the dances are accompanied by songs and poems.  

Thais are familiar with the principle of the wai - to acknowledge the divinity in the person being greeted. It's the same acknowledgement that Vasudevan makes with great joy when he dances. "I don't hurt others - I try to spread happiness, and respect everyone on earth," he says, adding that modern dances like disco don't take us anywhere. 

"When you bring spirituality into dance, you can be peaceful."

A good dancer, according to Vasudevan, is born only when the ego dies, when they are beyond concern for how they are judged by the audience and directors, or how he can beat other performers.

"Basically, the choreography suggests that we kill the ego. There may be different gods and gestures in every dance but they convey the same thing." 

Shiva also occurs in the form of Nataraja, the King of Dance who balances on one leg inside a circle of flame while crushing the demon of greed under his right foot.  "It means that to survive peacefully in the world we need to kill material desires," explains Vasudevan. "The moment we kill the demon, we have bliss."

Vasudevan has also composed and choreographed pieces dealing with the problems of abuse of women and children, and performed in Indian schools. He's currently part of a collaboration of Thai and Indian artists at Patravadi Theatre working on a Ramayana-inspired piece titled "Sita". The project aims to give the story of Rama's wife an unconventional treatment and setting.

He wrapped up the lecture by linking the meanings of Hindu gods with Christianity: "Though he doesn't have the extra hands, Christ uses his eyes as weapons to show truth, reality and sacrifice. I see Jesus as an image of human wholeness. He's an example of all the good attributes a complete person should have."

For updates on Vasudevan's performances call (087) 977 6936 or e-mail: rajesh_vdev@yahoo.com.

Aree Chaisatien

 The Nation