Artists
One click and your stove is on. Is the mundane routine of preparing food far removed from the sacred practices of ritual cooking?
Nirupama Vaidhyanathan’s dance theatre production is a page-to-stage adaptation of Shoba Narayan’s book, Food and Faith. The production involves theatrical storytelling and dance segments, tracing the fascinating history and legends associated with sacred foods across India.
Sacred spaces nurtured culinary traditions in the most unique way. In Amritsar, at the Golden Temple, serving in the langar, the free kitchen, is itself considered worship. What impact do monsoon rains have on the fasting traditions of priests in Udupi? How do medicinal herbs found in the hills around Palani influence the jam-like panchamritham that the temple is famous for? In Puri, when the cooks say a prayer to the Sun God and the Fire God before cooking, what is the ritualistic practice that they celebrate? In Kottarakkara, Kerala, how do unni appams tie the present to kings from the past?
Supported by:
Venue: Auditorium
Artists
Shoba Narayan
Shoba Narayan is a journalist, columnist, content creator, and the author of six books. She has written on a variety of topics and won a James Beard award and Pulitzer Fellowship. She has taught courses at IIM Bangalore and the Indian Institute of Science. She founded and co-created two websites: Project LooM, about textiles traditions of India, and Jewels of India: about Indian jewellery. She is the host and anchor of Bird Podcast: about birds and nature. She serves on the board of Industree Foundation, Neev Academy and Natya Institute of Kathak and Choreography.
Nirupama Vaidhyanathan
Nirupama Vaidhyanathan is a multifaceted dancer, writer, storyteller, and educator who has performed Bharatanatyam worldwide to critical acclaim. She has researched and presented three dance-theater productions: Tamizhin Kathai (The Story of Tamizh), tracing the language’s 2,500-year history; Whispers Along the Kaveri, on the growth of arts along the river; and Journeys of Faith, on sacred foods through narrative, music, and dance. A former editor of India Currents magazine, she has won writing awards from the San Francisco Press Club and California News Publishers Association, is a gold medalist in Journalism from India, and holds a Master’s in Communication from the Annenberg School, University of Pennsylvania.
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