What is the backstory of our foundation? How did this all begin?
Our story of KnowYourRoots starts in the sacred city of Kanchi near Chennai, India. That was Jan 2018.
We were visiting the Kanchi Matham (Center of Excellence) to receive the darshan of Sri Sri Sri Sankara Vijayendra Saraswathi Swami who is the main seer of the Matham. We were sitting in the mandapam (hall) with our friend Kompella Sarma and awaiting the arrival of Swami.
We were deep in conversation about the magnificence of Indian arts, culture, tradition, Sanatana Dharma, and the importance of our young people in India along with NRIs (Non-Resident-Indians) to fully recognize their rich and powerful heritage, which is where they come from no matter where they are physically today in the world. We shared our vision of starting a program called KnowYourRoots where we will organize trips and programs for NRIs to visit India and learn about Indian history, science, mathematics, Vedas, Ayurveda, Astronomy, Archaeology, and more. We were so engrossed in conversation when we were told Swami Varu was arriving.
We stood up and there he was with a divine smile walking towards us. There were about a hundred people all around when Swami Varu said in our mother tongue Telugu, “Where is the couple from America who do SivaPadam?”.
We need to go back a few years for you to understand this question.
————flashback begins ————
Our guru is Bramhasri Dr. Samavedam Shanmukha Sarma garu who we consider a unique combination of Jagadguru Adi Shankara and Swami Vivekananda – Adi Shankara for our guru’s infinite wisdom of Indian scriptures and Vedas, and Swami Vivekananda for our guru’s immense love for Sanatana Dharma and India. Guru Shanmukha Sarma garu wrote over 1,000 lyrical poems (songs) on Lord Shiva in languages Telugu and Sanskrit, under the label ‘SivaPadam’.
Vani, deeply inspired by the profound essence of SivaPadam, started to organize dance performances with SivaPadam compositions. Dance gurus all over the world began to get mesmerized by these songs and what’s miraculous is that more than 75% of those dance gurus don’t speak or understand Telugu or Sanskrit. Ravi, who is a trained singer and who loves to sing, ended up learning over 100 SivaPadams. SivaPadam started reverberating in our house and in everything we undertook.
————flashback ends ————
During our visit to India in Dec 2017, we organized a SivaPadam performance tour in Vijayawada and Hyderabad with 35 NRI dancers. For reasons only Lord Shiva knows, we sent an invitation to our dear friend Kompella Sarma and requested him to let Swami Varu know about these performances by NRI gurus and students. Swami Varu sent his blessings and prasadam with our friend Sarma to one of the SivaPadam shows in Hyderabad, with a message that we should visit Kanchi.
So, here was Swami Varu looking for us. He said in Telugu
“You are mesmerizing the world with Lord Shiva and SivaPadam”.
He blessed us with a divine smile that we both remember vividly even today. We could feel a message coming to us that would shape and dictate what we would do from here on as our life’s mission.
We were elated with joy and felt the divine energy to continue our journey. Interestingly, that was our very first visit to Kanchi. Our friend later narrated our vision of KnowYourRoots to Swami Varu who was so happy with our ideas and gave our vision the Sanskrit name of ‘Dharma Moolam’. Thus KnowYourRoots / Dharma Moolam was born.
The next 6 years have been magical. We organized multiple SivaPadam performances in the USA, Singapore, Angkor Wat in Cambodia, and India. All the gurus started referring to the group as the ‘Global SivaPadam Family’. This is so interesting since in Sanatana Dharma, our ancient Rishis have always looked at the whole world as ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ or One Family.
Can you share more details about one experiential tour of KYRF?
In Dec 2022 we organized what remains our biggest undertaking yet – ‘Bharata Samarpana SivaPadam’ vocal and dance tour with 72 USA-based NRI Dance & Vocal Gurus and Students performing in historic temples in Tamilnadu and Kashi, in collaboration with Bharat Kala Academy, Trichy, India.
Why? We wished that the NRI students connect with their roots by performing in India, versus, performing in auditoriums across the USA.
“సకల మంత్రముల సంభవ మూలము పంచాక్షరియే ప్రణవము” (Of all the divine mantras, and one that is the root of all the mantras is the Panchakshari Mantra, Om Namah Shivaya). Lord Shiva with his karuna and leela turned our tour into a Panchakshari Naatya Gaana Yajnam. The gurus and students of Kuchipudi, Bharatanatyam, Kathak, and Odissi gave wonderful performances in 5 kshetras:
- Na – Chidambaram
- Ma – Thanjavur
- Si – Madurai
- Va – Chennai
- Ya – Kashi
Our pranam to Gurus who performed with so much Passion, Devotion and Bhakti, and trained their students also similarly.
Thank you Guru Chandana Veturi (Bharatanatyam), Guru Dipanwita Sengupta (Kathak), Guru Bidisha Mohanty (Odissi), Guru Pragya Das Gupta (Odissi), Guru Sima Chakraborty (Odissi), Guru Rajesh Chavali (Kuchipudi), Guru Krishnaveni (Odissi), Guru Vani Iswara (Kuchipudi), Guru Vishal Ramani (Bharatanatyam), Guru Sunita Pendekanti (Kuchipudi), Guru Madhusree (Bharatanatyam), Guru Hemamalini (Kuchipudi), Guru Swapna (Kuchipudi).
Our Panchakshari natya gana yajnam started in Chidambaram
Chidambaram – “Na” kaaram (Dec 25, 2022)
We performed directly in front of Lord Nataraja and inside the temple complex. As we were not allowed to use flash drives or CDs for music, for the first time in the history of SivaPadam performances, we had live music and singing by Guru Anuradha Sridhar, Guru Shriram Brahmanandam, while the dance gurus and students danced in total bliss. We had a special darshan of Lord Nataraja and Mother Siva Kama Sundari.
Thanjavur – “Ma” kaaram (Dec 27, 2022)
We were gifted the opportunity to perform in a brand-new auditorium that is yet to be opened to the public adjacent to Brihadeeswara Temple. The gurus and students did an outstanding job dancing to SivaPadams and also singing kirtanas of Saint Thyagaraja, Saint Syama Sastri, and Saint Muthuswamy Dikshitar.
The majority of the children were amazed by the Brihadeeswara Temple praakaaram, the meticulously carved gopurams, the 250-tonne Nandi, and the presence of thousands of Shiva Lingas all across the temple.
Madurai – “Si” kaaram (Dec 28, 2022)
We were blessed to perform on the same stage inside the massive temple complex where Meenakshi Sundareswarar Kalyanam happens. The performances were magical. When the first SivaPadam dance started, Lord Ganesha, Lord Sundareswara, and Mother Meenakshi arrived in a procession and blessed us. Later we had a special darshan of Madura Meenakshi and Sundareswarar, even when close to 50,000 people were waiting in line for Darshans. The EO of the temple was mesmerized by our performances and devotion and he allowed us to go through special VIP lines.
The majority of the children loved their performances in Madurai in the presence of Mother Meenakshi.
Chennai – “Va” kaaram (Dec 30, 2022)
Our performance here was at the Ramakrishna School’s Infosys Hall. The presence of SivaPadam author, Brahmasri Dr. Samavedam Shanmukha Sarma garu made this event so special for the Gurus and Students. The group performed the full Dwadasa Jyotirlingam SivaPadam written by Brahmasri Dr. Samavedam Shanmukha Sarma garu. The music was composed by Guru Anuradha Sridhar and Guru Shriram Brahmanandam, along with their blessed mother Guru Lalgudi Srimathi Brahmanandam. Gurus Anu and Sriram, along with their students played and sang live. It was so blissful.
Our Chief Guest was Telangana Governor Smt. Tamilisai Soundararajan who flew in from Hyderabad just for our event. She spoke extremely eloquently (in Tamil) and praised all the young girls who are learning and perpetuating Indian art forms despite being abroad.
Kashi – “Ya” kaaram (Jan 1st and 2nd)
This was a purnahuthi (a finale) experience for all of us. 50 of us flew together from Chennai and were especially welcomed by Indigo Airlines. Every second was magical from the moment we set foot in Kashi. We first sought the darshan of Kala Bhairava to permit us to get the darshans of Lord Viswanadha and Lord Visalakshi.
On Jan 1st morning, we performed in the auspicious Assi Ghat theater right next to River Ganga as our way of kicking off India’s G20 Presidency for the year 2023. The performances were out of this world with SivaPadam and other Kirtanas reverberating on the banks of Ganga. Over 2.5 million were in Kashi for the New Year’s weekend but Amma (Mother) and Ayya (Father) ensured everything was fine.
After we finished the performances, we were heading for lunch at our hotels when mysteriously, we got a call from Sringeri Matham, offering Prasadam to all of us. 50 of us were served a 10-course meal in Vistallu (Plantain leaves), it was delicious and was Annapurna Prasadam.
On Jan 2nd, we performed inside the new Viswanadha Corridor, right across the sanctum sanctorum of Lord Viswanadha. One of our SivaPadams was ‘Hey Viswanadha’ played by Guru Anuradha Sridhar ji and students.
This is how our Panchakshari Yajnam went extremely well beyond our imagination.
Oh, wait…there was more on this historic trip
We took our artists to Rameshwaram. They were enamored by the Ram Setu and its history.
We also took some of the vocalists to Saint Thyagaraja’s Adhishtanam in Thiruvaiyaru. Singing in his subtle presence and seeing where the big Aradhana happens every year was such an emotional and inspiring experience for the children and the gurus.
Thanks to Bharat Kala Academy for overseeing all the logistics, temple darshans, travel, accommodation and so much more. Without their passionate support, this tour wouldn’t have been possible.
“Bharata Samarpana SivaPadam 2022-23 Panchakshari Natya Gaana Yajnam” created history with diverse dance and vocal performances in many Indian temples of global recognition.
Hara Hara Mahadev.
But why did we name our vision ‘KnowYourRoots’? Coming soon…