A Gulf News Report
Dubai: Passion and patriotism united when 1,246
Indian women donned the Thiruvathira Robe ( white cotton saree with golden
border, exquisite jewellery and hair adorned with jasmine - a visual feast )
in the UAE and presented a performance of a semi-classical, traditional dance form of
Kerala, Thiruvathira, in Dubai on Friday. ( Dancing improves brain function
& reverses signs of aging ).
The women, a majority of them hailing from the South Indian state of Kerala,
presented the dance at the Etisalat Academy.
Their performance was part of a carnival named 'Pooram Dubai 2017', an event
replicating the mini version of Thrissur Pooram, the most famous cultural
festival of Kerala.
From young girls to grandmothers, the dancers - dressed in traditional
Kerala attire and with jasmine flowers adorning their hair - offered a
visual feast of rhythm and grace to thousands of spectators.
Their two-month-long practice sessions in 40 groups at homes, parks and
other venues across the UAE found fruition as they danced, uniformly
bedecked in finery, for 15 minutes and 30 seconds, choreographed by
Malayalam actress and dancer Asha Sharath.
From girls to grandmothers, the dancers - dressed in traditional Kerala
attire and with jasmine flowers adorning their hair - offered a visual feast
of rhythm and grace.
The Pooram Dubai carnival, organised by Crystal Top Events, also featured a
grand percussion performance by traditional drummers flown in from Kerala
and 'Kudamaattam', the changing of the traditional ornate umbrellas by
mahouts sitting atop elephants, for which five life-size elephant replicas
were arranged.
The Buddhists call Reality Shoonya or Nihil, but to the Eternians it is Poorna,
the Absolute, the Whole. Poorna represents the infinite totality of Fullness.
There are only two Fullnesses, the Fullness of Fullness and the Fullness of
Emptiness ! Poornamada Poornamidam !
This is a lovely Malayalam poem, all four lines beginning with Poorna !
O Thou Who dwellest in Fullness !
In order to redeem Thy devotees
Thou reclineth in the Fullness of Fullness
And in the Fullness of the Heart !
