The pooja ban fiasco points firmly to the newly appointed state Unity, Culture, Arts and Heritage director Ramli Salleh, after the state government distanced itself from the controversy. We saw the department saying it asked the organisers to do the prayer backstage, while the organisers protested but still continued with the performance minus the prayers.

One of the organisations’ student who was there (and performed in previous years’ program) said that prayers were always done previously and the crowd would have not been bothered with the prayers since they knew that salutations to Lord Nadaraja is the norm.

Even Gerakan is against such an action. So, is an apology in order from the department? I doubt it 🙂 Wonder what is the ministry’s response.

Meanwhile, opinions are divided on whether such prayers are a necessity. As for me, I’ve yet to see a baratham show without prayer at the start.

IPOH: The Perak state government is distancing itself from the controversy of South Indian classical dancers being forbidden from conducting their pooja on stage at Taman Budaya on Monday night.

“This was a decision by the State Unity, Culture, Arts and Heritage (Kekkwa) director, who comes under the Federal government.

“I did not know about it until I read it in the newspapers,” said State Culture, Youth and Sports Committee chairman Seah Leong Peng. He said the state government did not agree with such a directive and would have allowed the dancers to perform their prayers. Seah said he would seek an explanation from state Kekkwa director Ramli Salleh.

It was reported yesterday that a group of Bharatanatyam dancers were “forced” to abandon the pooja to pay obeisance to Lord Nadaraja by the department, which is also the owner of Taman Budaya. Although the dancers had previously been allowed to offer the prayers, recently they were informed that they could only perform if they did not install a statue of the deity or offer their prayers on stage.Spokesman for three Bharatanatyam schools, P. Sasikumar, said the new condition of disallowing the prayers was ridiculous, as the pooja was an integral part of the performance and had been practised for hundreds of years.

Kekkwa public relations officer Shaliza Azlin had said that the organisers agreed with the department’s condition for the prayers to be performed backstage.

Perak Gerakan chief Datuk Chang Ko Youn called for the new directive to be withdrawn, saying that all religious groups should be given their right to practise their traditions and customs. “I am sure religions can co-exist and it is wrong for the officer to argue that the ban was to protect the sensitivities of the Malays and Chinese.

Meanwhile, Malaysia Hindu Sangam president Datuk A. Vaithilingam said offering prayers to Lord Nadaraja before a Bharatanatyam performance was an established tradition and the prohibition would be offensive to Hindus. “The different communities in Malaysia have shown respect for each other’s faith. This atmosphere of tolerance, respect and harmony must be maintained and cherished,” he said.

However, T. Premalatha, a Temple of Fine Arts graduate, said not all Indian classical dancers perform homage to Lord Nadaraja before their shows.

Sutra Dance Theatre founder Ramli Ibrahim said his dancers avoid performing the ritual as the act of dancing to the very best of one’s ability was itself a homage to Lord Nadaraja. “Sutra believes in the universal message of dance, which transcends all boundaries. Overt religious rituals are not necessary because we operate on a metaphysical level,” he said.

However, dancer Sri Ganesan, who heads the Sri Ganesalaya Institution of Bharatanatyam, said the homage to Lord Nadaraja was part and parcel of Indian classical dance. “We perform homage to Lord Nadaraja behind the curtains on stage and the statue remains throughout the dance performance. “Occasionally, the homage is done before the audience,” he said.

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