Journey to Divinity
The soul's journey to self-realisation, drawn from Swami Vivekananda's philosophy of Karma, Jnana and Bhakti.
Combines classical Odissi with multimedia, narration and visual imagery to explore Vivekananda's teachings through choreography, symbolic gesture and group composition. Conceived as a tribute to Swami Vivekananda for the Vivekananda Youth Forum, Mumbai, it is built on Swamiji's own poems — written in English and Bengali, translated into Hindi — and takes a kaleidoscopic view of his life in narrative form, using classical dance alongside narration and projected visuals. The programme runs in eight movements: the invocation Mangalacharan, in honour of Swamiji's majestic attributes; Vision of Shiva (‘Aum Jai Vireshvara’), portraying him as energy personified; Karma Yoga (‘Boyoge Payoge’); Death of Desire (‘Nache Uspar Shyama’), his prayer to Kali to dance upon the heart and destroy the web of Maya; Humble Truth and Realization (‘Prabhu Mere Avaguna Chitna Dharo’); Worshipping the Guru (‘Namo Namo Prabhu’), for the boy who gave his life to Sri Ramakrishna; Scaling Sublime Heights (‘Shivoham’) — existence absolute, knowledge absolute, bliss absolute; and Divine Soul (‘Nahi Shurjo’), Swamiji the poet on samadhi.