Sutapa Talukdar (centre) in performance.

If they had followed the scriptures to the last letter, the purohits would probably have used a whole range of mudras that could easily blend into a dance form. Dancer Sutapa Talukdar plans to take off from where the priests of yore left off. On a research project backed by the Centre, she is all set to assimilate forgotten tantric, yogic and vedic mudras into a brand new dance style.

It all started when Sutapa, as a child, watched in wonder while the family priest used his nimble fingers in various movements while offering puja. “The priest’s deft hand movements and their likeness to dance amazed me. So, later, while striving to do something new, creative and worthwhile, I thought of doing some research on the subject.”

As she delved into piles of old texts and manuscripts of vedic, tantric and yogic cults, out tumbled a plethora of magnificent and complex mudras which could easily be used in any graceful dance form. “Searching for about 18 months, I have already identified over 87 such mudras, which were used by priests earlier but are almost obsolete now. And this is just the tip of the iceberg.”

Based on the elementary research, a 15-day workshop was held in December 2003 at the Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre and later the ministry of culture of the government of India recognised her efforts.

Talukdar has been given a two-year research grant as senior fellow to develop her experiment into a dance form. “The plan is to interpret various tantric hastamudras and yogic postures, infuse them into mainstream Odissi and branch out into a new dance form altogether,” she says.

Two of the mudras she is working with

Having gone through the Tantrasar, Kalikapuran, Purohitdarpan among other books in detail, Talukdar has been fascinated by the fluid movements mentioned in the ancient works. “It is a pity that priests today do not use these beautiful mudras. They are exotic and pretty and require tremendous skill. ”

Having consulted many on the topic, she found most, with the exception of a few tantrics, yogics, purohits and Sanskrit experts, had “absolutely no knowledge” of the mudras.

Travelling all over Bengal for research, Talukdar has found a spirited friend in the Acharya Maharaj of Bardhaman Chaitanya Gouriyo Math. “The enthusiastic acharya explains each step in detail, sometimes even through dance.”

Getting ready for a tour of Russia in September, which will include “as much as possible of this fresh genre”, Talukdar hopes this new dance form should take concrete shape by 2006.