1. As part of the commemoration of the 150th birth anniversary of Nobel laureate Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, “Shaapmochan”, a play in which Tagore had himself played a role during his visit to Sri Lanka in 1934, was re-staged in Colombo. A troupe led by Ashimbandhu Bhattacharjee & Bimbavati Devi combined the dance forms of Manipuri and Kathak “Prabhu Amar Priyo Amar” which was their interpretation of Tagore’s original work. Their visit to Colombo was sponsored by the Indian Culture for Cultural Relations. Hon’ble Nimal Siripala De Silva, Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources Management, Government of Sri Lanka graced the occasion as Chief Guest. The event organized by the Indian Cultural centre in association with the India-Sri Lanka Foundation, was attended by Members of Parliament, diplomatic corps, eminent personalities from the field of art and culture, civil society, media and other distinguished guests.

2. In his address, High Commissioner H.E. Ashok K. Kantha highlighted that the event was a special tribute to Gurudev Tagore, who promoted the cause of Asian resurgence while at the same time stressed that it was important to retain our cultural and civilizational roots. Mr. Kantha recalled that Tagore, as was not known widely, had actually visited Sri Lanka five times and was still remembered with fondness in Sri Lanka. The High Commissioner appreciated the Government of Sri Lanka for honouring Gurudev Tagore by releasing a special stamp on 7th May 2011. He outlined various events already organized in Sri Lanka to celebrate the 150th Birth anniversary of Gurudev Tagore in association with the Ministry of Cultural Affairs and Art, University of Colombo, the High Commission of Bangladesh and the India-Sri Lanka Foundation, mentioning inter-alia, publication of a commemorative volume ‘Remembering Rabindranath Tagore’, Tagore Film Festival and an evening of Rabindra Sangeet by a famous singer from Bangladesh. The High Commissioner also thanked the Governors of the Northern, Central and Southern Provinces for facilitating the performances of the troupe at Galle, Kandy and Jaffna. The High Commissioner recalled that Tagore had himself acted in the play “Shaap Mochan” during his visit in 1934 and which had received very positive reviews in the then Ceylon press and by Mr. SWRD Bandaranaike, who later became the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka. The High Commissioner emphasized that the re-staging of Shap Mochan in form of “Prabhu Amar Priyo Amar” was an attempt to recreate that same magic which re-kindled the cultural renaissance in Sri Lanka, India and other parts of Asia.

3. Hon’ble Nimal Siripala De Silva, Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources Management, in his address, appreciated the efforts of the High Commission to strengthen the cultural relationship between India and Sri Lanka, which dates back to 2500 years, through organization of various cultural events. He recalled that Buddhism came to Sri Lanka from India and acknowledged the cross-fertilization of cultural influences between India and Sri Lanka throughout history. He called the event as a unique and historic occasion as Tagore visit’s to Sri Lanka had initiated a re-awakening in Sri Lanka and inspired leading artists such as Ananda Samarakoon, Chitrasena and Sunil Shantha to go to Santi Niketan, absorb cultural traditions from India and on return bring to lime light the indigenous traditional forms especially in the field of Music and dance. Hon’ble Minister highlighted the strong cultural affinities between India and Sri Lanka.

4. Hon’ble Minister thanked India for her support in the reconstruction efforts in the North and Eastern Sri Lanka after defeat of terrorism and undelined that the Government of Sri Lanka has embarked on the path of bringing peace dividends to Sri Lankan people and was not only looking towards the materialistic development but also for reinforcing the cultural values. He acknowledged India’s assistance to Sri Lanka in various fields such as S&T, Agriculture and acknowledged India’s emergence in the comity of nations which he attributed to the great personalities of India in diverse fields of art, culture, S&T and IT etc. He also highlighted that future of the world was not in West but in emerging Asia and that India was a leading player in the Asian resurgence. He emphasized that ventures of this nature such as performance organized will bring hearts of people and Sri Lanka together.

5. Bimbavati Devi, who is famous for her artistic qualities of natural expression, grace, sweetness, clarity, perfection and for her refined sensibilities and subtlety along with Ashimbandhu Bhattacharjee, a performer, teacher and choreographer par excellence, experimented with the play Shaap Mochan of Rabindranath Tagore and recreated it in a jugalbandi of Kathak and Manipuri styles of dancing. The choreography of the duo was mellifluous and harmonious and complemented the distinct classical styles without diminishing the qualities of each of the styles. The love story of Saurasen and his beloved Madhusree, their banishment from Heaven and the suffering of Sourosen as the disfigured King Aruneshwar were beautifully presented with dramatic expression and lights. The performance was well received by the audience.

6. The troupe will be presenting performances at Halle de Galle, Baladaksha Mawatha, Galle on 23rd November, at Central Province Hindu Cultural Hall, Peradeniya Road, Kandy on 25 November and at Veerasingham Hall, Jaffna on 28 November.

7. The next event to commemorate the 150th Birth Anniversary of Gurudev Tagore is organization of an exhibition of digital reproduction of Tagore’s paintings and photographic exhibition of Tagore’s travels to countries of South-East-Asia, China and Sri Lanka. The exhibition will be inaugurated by Hon’ble Minister of Culture and Arts Mr. T.B. Ekanayake on 2nd December at 6.00 P.M. at J.D.A. Perera Art Gallery, Colombo-07.
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Synopsis of Prabhu Amar Priyo Amar:

Lord Indra’s court musician, Saurasen, unmindful because his thoughts are with his beloved Madhusree who is away seeing the sunrise, accidentally drops his rhythm as he accompanies the heavenly dancer Urvashi. In anger at such a terrible mistake, Indra banishes him and Madhusree from Heaven. Saurasen is cursed and reborn as the disfigured King Aruneshwar while Madhusree becomes the beautiful Princess Kamalika. Aruneshwarm plagued with melancholy and murky dreams of a mysterious lady, comes across a picture of Kamalika one day and realizes that she is the one he loves. He sends her a proposal of marriage.

However, on the wedding day sends his Veena in his stead to which Kamalika ties her wedlock.

In Aruneshwar’s palace, Kamalika is only ever allowed to meet Anureshwar in the dark. As her frustration grows, she threatens she will leave unless she can see Anureshwar. He promises that she will see him as one of the dancers at a festival. When she watches, she sees a disfigured figure that she feels destroys the dance. Unaware it is Anureshwar she again insists that he reveals himself to her. She is shocked when she does see him and flees far into the forest.

On reflection, she realizes that Anureshwar’s warmth of love for her transcends his disfigurement, she resolves to return to him and the curse of disfigurement lifts from Anureshwar revealing his beauty. And so, after all the pain, suffering and frustration they have borne, the lovers are reunited.