The Lord of Dances is my favourite deity

Sukanya Ramesh

Mar 21 : Having learnt classical dance for a major part of my life, devotion has been inculcated in me. Also, family values have nurtured bhakti within me right from when I started knowing the world. When I go to temples and see the sculptures and their mudras, the sense of divinity comes from within.

When you are performing a dance on Krishna, Rama, Shiva or Murugan, being expressive is very essential. You cannot perform well if you do not live the character you are portraying. When enacting either deities or devotees, there has to be bhavam.

You learn a lot of things when you go to a temple. For instance, the bhava of cleaning up the temple or making a kolam or rangoli is a small service you do which helps your surroundings to look better and beautiful. It gives a nice feeling. Lord Shiva is my favourite deity. One reason is that He is the "Lord of Dances". And the other is that He is so simple. He is a Thyaga Swaroopam. He does not wear jewels nor is He dressed in costly attires.

He is the very symbol of a typical human being on earth — when we come into this world we do not bring anything and when leave we do not take anything from here. Being materialistic is not worthy.

(As told to Shankaran Malini)

— Sukanya is a popular actress from the South