Hyderabad, June 18: Those not into classical Indian dance forms can check out Kuchipudi café.
For dance lovers, though, the table is a treat - a Kuchipudi museum, a Kuchipudi hall of fame, a water body, musical fountain and an idol of the man who popularised the dance form.
All in the village that lent its name to the dance form some eight centuries ago.
Some 400km from Hyderabad in the present day Krishna district, Kuchipudi village is back in focus as part of a Rs 100-crore project to revive the Kuchipudi dance form that is believed to have lost some of its appeal over the years.
The Andhra Pradesh government has given the go-ahead for the project, which involves a Kuchipudi Natyaramam complex. Natyaramam chairman Anand Kuchibhotla, who is spearheading the project along with Silicon Valley, a US-based cultural association of Andhra NRIs, said the three-acre tank, with musical fountains, would be the largest of its kind in the world.
The project includes a museum on the dance form, a hall of fame for its maestros and the café. The café is likely to offer authentic local dishes like Pukihara (spicy rice), Mukkala Puolasu (sambar made of mixed vegetables), Vadiyam (small papads), Gongura pachidi (spicy leafy chutney always freshly made), and Dadhyojanam (curd rice with tadka).
"It's one step towards making Kuchipudi village an international heritage village," Kuchibhotla said.
Kuchipudi, a dance form with mudras (hand symbols) akin to Bharatanatyam, had flourished under the Satavahanas during the 2nd century BC, but suffered for lack of patronage during subsequent periods of invasions. The wider popularity of other dance forms, such as Bharatanatyam, also played a part, said a member of the Vedantam family, the oldest among the few families that practise Kuchipudi.
In Calcutta, Jita Roy Chowdhury of the Kalamandalam Centre for Performing Arts, said Kuchipudi may have become less popular in the city but not so in the south.
"But it's not just Kuchipudi. We as little girls and students had watched so many Kuchipudi recitals in the city but now you walk into empty auditoriums. I think the media have a lot of responsibility in this case. When it's a show by, say Madhuri Dixit, there are pages on the same but if it's by someone like (former Bharatanatyam dancer and former censor board chairperson) Leela Samson, you barely get coverage."
Rayasam Krishna Rao, a well-known dance critic in Hyderabad, said till 40 years back Kuchipudi was practised only by men and by Brahmins, that too by families of Kuchipudi village. In later years, however, actresses Vaijayantimala, Padmini and Ragini learnt Kuchipudi and practised the art.
Natyaramam chairman Kuchibhotla said the state government has released Rs 2.5 crore as an initial instalment for the project. On the west side of the water tank, a statue of Sidhendra Yogi, the founder of the Kuchipudi form of dance, will be erected on a pedestal.
The outer periphery of the water body will have several platforms for students to practise. Laser lights will lighten up the whole tank at night.
As for casual visitors, they can always walk into the café.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY TRINA CHAUDHURI
