Chandalika – Daughter of Earth

Based on a Buddhist legend, Chandalika is a tale of spiritual conflict. Prakriti is born to the family of Chandals who are deemed untouchable by the society and is shunned by all. A very sensitive girl, Prakriti is suddenly awakened to a consciousness of her rights as a woman by Ananda, a Buddhist monk, who accepts water from.her hands. He teaches her that one cannot be judged by the accidents of birth but by the ability to love and serve humanity. This dawns on her as a new birth, an ablution as she rises up as a human with full rights to love and to give. She decides to surrender herself as an offering to the Buddhist monk. However, Ananda is oblivious of all this and passes by , detached from.all worldly desires without recognizing Prakriti. Humiliated Prakriti determines to bring the nonchalant detached  monk down to desire her. Her mother, in blind love for her child, creates magic and casts a spell that drags the monk back against his will by filling him with unwAnted desire. He arrives, face distorted with the agony of desire. This is not the resplendent sentence Ananda who gave her her new life.She urges her mother to take back the spell . Prakriti s mother dies while revoking the spell and Prakriti learns by suffering. She falls at Ananda s feet.

Choreographed in Navanritya and Rabendrik style of dance by Artistic Director Nandini Mandal.

Story and music composition – Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore
Choreography- Nandini Mandal
Dancers- Roosha Mandal, Paushaly Remi Sau and Nandini Mandal

Songs
Prakriti : Dr. Shreedhara Gupta
Maa: Sanjukta Das
Ananda : Aveek Mallick

Bengali Narration: Madhumita Basu
Keyboard: Surajit Chakraborty
Rhythm: Biplab Mondal & Gautam Chaudhury
Sitar: Subhas Chandra Basu
Octapad: Saumen Das (Bobby)
Music Direction: Aveek Mallick
Recorded at Prasad Studios, Kolkata India

Nandini Mandal is a renowned dancer and teacher of Bharatanatyam, an Indian classical dance form. She started learning Bharatanatyam under the guidance of her teacher, Guru Snigdha Pal, Kalamandalam Venkitt, Preetha Venkitt,India. She specialized in Abhinaya or expressions under the legendary Guru Sonal Mansingh. Nandini is constantly expanding her creativity by collaborating with local artistes and performing in schools, colleges and at other public forums. She was the cultural ambassador of India with the World Affairs Council, UNO, Pittsburgh chapter in 2009 and 2012. Her philanthropic activities include fundraising through Dance for Cure events for the Leukemia Lymphoma Foundation, and American Cancer Society. A leukemia survivor, Nandini is a dance activist, and works as freelance interpreter and translator.