{"id":50101,"date":"2017-02-01T18:27:30","date_gmt":"2017-02-02T00:27:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=50101"},"modified":"2017-02-01T18:27:30","modified_gmt":"2017-02-02T00:27:30","slug":"female-empowerment-shines-through-south-asian-mythology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/female-empowerment-shines-through-south-asian-mythology\/","title":{"rendered":"Female empowerment shines through South Asian mythology"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Abhinanda Datta<\/strong><\/p>\n

As women marched on the streets in the thousands to unite against Donald Trump\u2019s presidency, MANDALA<\/a> ,an organization for South Asian Performing Arts, recently depicted women empowerment through dance performances.<\/p>\n

\u201cConversations with Devi\u201d portrayed the endless facets of womanhood and her role in society. Bharata Natyam, a dance form indigenous to South India was used to relay tales deeply rooted in South Asian mythology. Each of the three tales \u2013 Mahisha Asura Mardhani, Varaha and Bhasma Asura – is defined by the Asura\u2019s (demon\u2019s) greed for power and his subsequent defeat at the hands of the Devi (goddess).<\/p>\n

\"Durga<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Kinnari Vora as Durga Devi in Mahisha Asura Mardhani. (Abhinanda Datta\/MEDILL)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"Birth<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Vora interprets the birth of Durga – the invincible one, who is created with the combined divine power of the gods after they are banished from their heavenly abode by Mahishasura. (Abhinanda Datta\/MEDILL)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"Durga<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Vora as Durga, armed with celestial weapons faces Mahishasura and after a long battle, succeeds in defeating him. (Abhinanda Datta\/MEDILL)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"Bhoomi<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Malavika Thampi as Bhoomi Devi, the Hindu goddess representing Mother Earth in Varaha. (Abhinanda Datta\/MEDILL) <\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"Bhoomi<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Thampi portrays Bhoomi Devi who is taken captive by the demon Hiranyaksha. (Abhinanda Datta\/MEDILL)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"Bhoomi<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Thampi as Bhoomi Devi appeals to Lord Vishnu to save her and she falls in love with her savior and becomes one of Vishnu’s consorts. (Abhinanda Datta\/MEDILL) <\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"Ashwaty<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Ashwaty Chennat as Vishnu\/Mohini. (Abhinanda Datta\/MEDILL)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"Mohini<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
In order to defeat the greedy demon Bhasmasura, Lord Vishnu entices him in the guise of a beautiful woman named Mohini, interpreted by Chennat. (Abhinanda Datta\/MEDILL)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"Mohini'd<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Chennat as Mohini dances and the demon emulates her, touching his head like she does, and immediately turns into ash due to the gift bestowed on him by Lord Shiva. (Abhinanda Datta\/MEDILL)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Photo at top: Depiction of women empowerment through Bharata Natyam.(Abhinanda Datta\/MEDILL)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Abhinanda Datta As women marched on the streets in the thousands to unite against Donald Trump\u2019s presidency, MANDALA ,an organization for South Asian Performing Arts, recently depicted women empowerment through dance performances. \u201cConversations with Devi\u201d portrayed the endless facets of womanhood and her role in society. Bharata Natyam, a dance form indigenous to South […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":344,"featured_media":50102,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3516],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-50101","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-winter-2017"],"yoast_head":"\nFemale empowerment shines through South Asian mythology - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/female-empowerment-shines-through-south-asian-mythology\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Female empowerment shines through South Asian mythology - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Abhinanda Datta As women marched on the streets in the thousands to unite against Donald Trump\u2019s presidency, MANDALA ,an organization for South Asian Performing Arts, recently depicted women empowerment through dance performances. \u201cConversations with Devi\u201d portrayed the endless facets of womanhood and her role in society. Bharata Natyam, a dance form indigenous to South […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/female-empowerment-shines-through-south-asian-mythology\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-02-02T00:27:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2017\/01\/Feature-4-e1485896970942.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1100\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"731\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"abhinandadatta2017\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"abhinandadatta2017\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\\\/chicago\\\/female-empowerment-shines-through-south-asian-mythology\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\\\/chicago\\\/female-empowerment-shines-through-south-asian-mythology\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"abhinandadatta2017\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\\\/chicago\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6d3d58c770aec39e9c087c1026a4c145\"},\"headline\":\"Female empowerment shines through South Asian mythology\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-02-02T00:27:30+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\\\/chicago\\\/female-empowerment-shines-through-south-asian-mythology\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":128,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\\\/chicago\\\/female-empowerment-shines-through-south-asian-mythology\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\\\/chicago\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/3\\\/2017\\\/01\\\/Feature-4-e1485896970942.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Winter 2017\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\\\/chicago\\\/female-empowerment-shines-through-south-asian-mythology\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\\\/chicago\\\/female-empowerment-shines-through-south-asian-mythology\\\/\",\"name\":\"Female empowerment shines through South Asian mythology - 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