Kuchipudi performance celebrates Jijabai’s influence on Shivaji’s legacy

NIZAMABAD: While many of us are taught about the lives of great warriors and freedom fighters — often through stories, history lessons or the different forms of media we consume — the sacrifices of the women who offer support, nurture and encouragement are usually forgotten.

To bridge this gap, Hyderabad-based Sri Nateshwari Foundation of Arts and Culture (SNFAC) has been putting on shows of Kuchipudi performances depicting the life of Jijabai, mother of Shivaji, and her influence on his thinking and values.

Written by Chakravarthula Venugopal, a lecturer from Vikarabad, the dance-drama starts with a focus on the different stages of Jijabai’s life — her wedding to Shahaji Bhonsale and motherhood — and moves on to the rise of Shivaji, his battlefield victories and eventual coronation as the founder of the Maratha empire.

Speaking to TNIE, the show’s choreographer and composer, Vangala Niveditha, says the performance was planned by taking the current social atmosphere into consideration.