Ardhanareeshwara stotra by Gaura Nataraj and Komala Kumari

Choreographed by Rama Vaidyanathan

This is a song in praise of the deity whose right side of the body is Shiva, and left side is Parvati. This deity represents the eternal balance between male and female principles that are seen everywhere in the Universe.
Just like word and it’s meaning are not separate from each other, in the same way parents of the Universe Shiva and Parvati are inseparable
His dance is powerful and aggressive, her dance is soft and graceful
Her body shines like a molten gold,
His body shines like the burning camphor,
She has a well made up hair,
He has matted locks.

Her body is smeared with musk and saffron,
His body is smeared with ashes from cremation grounds,
Her smile radiates love,
He destroyed the God of love.
She has tinkling pretty anklets and bangles,
He has snakes as anklets and bangles
She wears garland of divine flowers,
He wears a garland of skulls,
She dresses in great silks,
His only garment is the sky.
Her dance marks the creation of the world, she is the mother to all moving and non-moving objects- birds, deers, elephants, flowers and creepers.
His dance destroys everything… only so she can create again.
She is the mother of the universe,
And He is the father of the universe.

This was the first time we danced together with Komala Kumari from NY. We met each other only few days before the performance, so considering time restrictions I think we did a decent job :) Hope that one day we can repeat this