The Three Lives of Bharata

Three Lives of Bharata

The Tuesday evening Krishna Culture Festival entertainment on Tuesday August 16, from 7 pm:

General description:

The Krishna Culture Festival Tour is comprised of young students of Bhakti yoga who practice the joyful process of connecting with the Divine through acts of loving service, the main focus of the sacred text called the Bhagavad-gita. They are volunteering to travel and share their passion for an ancient culture with audiences in 34 cities across the USA and Canada this summer. Even though their visit will be short and on a weekday evening, be sure to stop by and visit their performance if you're interested in yoga, mantras and eastern mysticism.

1. Kirtan (20 minutes) by the bus tour youth kirtaniyas See photo: http://files.krishna.com/festivals/kirtan.jpg. The call-and-response devotional music of India. With traditional drums, cymbals, harmonium and mantras, the musicians weave a meditative blanket of sound to transport you into a sacred space beyond time.

2. Bharata-natyam dance by Vani and Ksamesvari (15 minutes), two very talented students of Mother Anapayini's Bhakti dance academy in Alachua, Florida. See photos: http://files.krishna.com/festivals/dancers1.jpg. Classical Temple Dance Wrapped in ornately flowing costumes, an ensemble of dancers perform
Bharata Natyam, the classical south Indian temple dance. Hand gestures, movements and facial expressions help to portray stories of divine love, complemented by traditional rhythms and melodies.

3. Drama: The Three Lives of Bharata (75 minutes) Presented by H.H. Bhaktimarga Swami and his theater troupe. Poster: http://files.krishna.com/festivals/poster.jpg. Maharaja Bharata was the first emperor of India. In his final years, he retired from public life to focus on spiritual pursuits. Using an
international cast, elaborate costumes and life-size puppets, this classical drama explores the many adventures along Bharata's colorful sojourn that led him to take his next birth as a deer, and then as a mendicant, before completing his quest. An epic story from the Bhagavata Purana.

4. Prasadam, vegetarian foodstuffs.

Approximate total time (including prasadam) of 2 hours, 30 minutes.