Chitrangada: The Warrior Princess of Manipur
Note: To make the story understood and enjoyed by all, there will be English narrations describing each turn of the story... and English translations of the songs will be projected onto the backscreen.
Synopsis:
Lord Shiva, pleased with the sincere prayers of the King of Manipur, blessed him with the boon that only sons will be born to the royal family.
Soon after, as if in defiance of the boon, a girl child was born. Having no other choice, the King decided to bring her up as a boy.
Chitrangada learned the art of archery, the politics of governing & the skills of war.
One day as she was out deer hunting with her troop, she met a handsome man who introduced himself as Arjun, the third of the five Pandava brothers...known all over the world for his unparalleled marksmanship. Chitrangada fell desperately in love. But Arjun turned her away.
In this drama, Tagore has posed a lot of difficult questions, some on women's empowerment, others on gender bias, and we must find our own solutions to them as the drama unfolds. But in the end, this is a feel good story in which love, peace and acceptance come out as the winners.
We dedicate this program to the loving memory of Amarnath Ghosh, a talented young dancer and dance enthusiast, who participated in both our 2023 events and who was taken away from us way too soon.