Sweta Mukti, Feminine Glory Of Nirvana

Sweta Mukti is an intense search, a gripping journey into the compassionate world of womanhood. This is a long story of five women, divided into five short episodes and all five are dazzled with the aura of illumination and self-realization.  Budhha, the supreme soul of enlightenment and greatest torch bearer of liberation for humanity is conceived, nurtured, loved, cared, challenged and charmed by these women. It was Gautami, who was Gautama’s mother and subsequently became the enlightened one’s greatest disciple. Budhha was her son and Guru. Her motherly love was the ground for the sapling of the world- free of worldliness. The relationship of Gautami and Gautama was like that of sky and cloud, being together, never attached.

Yasodhara, the beautiful queen and dedicated wife, a loving heart who can never hold the ever-flying spirit of her lover, a partner who can see her fulfilment in detachment, a follower whose longing is her lover’s liberation. Yasodhara dedicates herself and her total being at the lotus feet of his husband, who was not merely meant for her.

Magandhi, the arrogant and beautiful Brahmin girl, madly in love with Budhha, frantically trying to allure him and failing to capture his attention- became wild and an arch rival of Buddha. She became the queen of the conspiracy to annihilate the man with whom she was crazily in love. For her, Buddha was a man, a treasured possession, sadly unattainable. His love was different. She had her own definition of enlightenment and Nirvana.

Prakruti, the daughter of a lowly shoemaker, saw Budhha and followed his path. Budhha liberated her from the vicious net of the caste system. Through Prakruti, the spiritual rights of the marginal and downtrodden were ensured. She understood the truth of body and bodylessness. She was the first woman ambassador of equality and liberty in Budhha’s Sangha.

Finally, Amrapali, the wealthy courtesan of Vaishali, drunk with all material wealth and pleasure, missed something in her remotest spirit. A waiting, an excitement, a longing for someone unknown- that was Amrapalli’s life. She saw Budhha and discovered her own self. It was like seeing into a mystic mirror where you can identify your own mystic being. From mundane to divine, Amrapalli’s journey is an eternal quest for freedom and self-realization.

Sweta Mukti is a poetic journey of five women characters, who are deeply different from each other and longing for one goal. Their search is eternal. It’s an attempt to lighten the mystic self of womanhood, the celebration of ecstasy for the second sex. It’s a story about women’s liberation and self-discovery. The poetic narrative goes with abstract flows, yet knits a story of human aspiration. They are women of history, yet modern, having great relevance to the contemporary world and time.

This brilliant poetic tribute to the lives of the women who were integral part of Lord Buddha is choreographed by Kavita Dwivedi, one of the finest solo Odissi dancers of our time. It was written and choreographed a decade back, but it was recently presented by Kavita in various stages with added inputs. To sustain a long choreography of 50 minutes as a solo dancer is quite a daunting task, yet Kavita overpowers the stage in her graceful flow. She transformed her dancing persona as the characters and intensely lived their lives on the stage. This production is a creative collaboration between a superbly talented Odissi dancer with one of the greatest Odissi musicians Guru Ramahari Das.