The dancer becomes the drum. Playing the pung, the barrel drum sacred to Manipur, Sanjib moves through swift, weightless turns and deep, grounded leaps, hand-rhythm and body-rhythm folding into one.
Rooted in the Vaishnavite Sankirtana tradition, Pung Cholom traditionally
opens a Ras Lila, an offering of sound and motion to Krishna. What begins as a
whisper of rhythm builds, gesture by gesture, into a storm of devotion, the drum
never leaving the dancer’s hands.
Form
Manipuri · Cholom
Music
Pung, kartal, voice
Watch
Stills
“Every minute, we are taken to a spiritual experience.”
Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
