A new artistic-pedagogical experiment is gaining traction across schools, cultural centres, spiritual institutions, and universities: Gita Natyam, a format that uses Bharatanatyam to teach the Bhagavad Gita chapter by chapter. At the centre of this growing ecosystem is Bharatanatyam artiste, educator, Vedanta practitioner Pavithra Srinivasan, whose three-decade journey in the shastriya arts has culminated in a method that blends scripture, storytelling, and movement in a format aimed especially at young learners.
A recent milestone came this month when Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan (PSBB) in Chennai invited Pavithra, an alumnus of the school, to present Gita Natyam: Chapter 1 of the Bhagavad Gita at the Dr (Mrs) YGP Centenary Festival of Music and Dance.
One of the purest form of compliments received for Gita Natyam !
Dr. Mrs #YGP #CentenaryCelebration #PSBB #KKNagarchennai #PADHAM #December2025 pic.twitter.com/cIFbRm4DJ8
— 🍁Pavithra Srinivasan🍁 (@beingpavithraS) December 10, 2025
A Workshop Model That Treats Natya as Pedagogy
Unlike conventional dance classes or lectures on scripture, Gita Natyam workshops are interactive learning environments. Each session unpacks a chapter of the Gita through adavus and classical movement, abhinaya and expressive mime, storytelling and songs, chanting and verse explanation, visual presentations, group reflection, and public performance.
Designed for participants above the age of 12, the workshops position Bharatanatyam not as ornamentation or just a cultural programme but as a teaching tool. Children chant verses, interpret ideas such as self-awareness and right action, and eventually express them in movement on stage. A 10-day programme conducted at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Coimbatore, documented on video, shows schoolchildren progressing from first exposure to a public recital, an indication of the format’s adaptability for schools and colleges.
Gita Natyam describes its outcomes in contemporary terms – self-awareness, purposeful living, clarity of goals, mapping life-skills training onto Vedic knowledge, and traditional aesthetics.
Beyond school and sabha spaces, Gita Natyam is now being trialed in higher-education environments. Notably, a workshop was recently conducted at Rishihood University, introducing undergraduate and young adult learners to the Gita through Bharatanatyam. This expansion signals serious ambition: to integrate classical arts and scriptural wisdom into modern campus education.
You will remember the recently held, wonderful 𝐆𝐢𝐭𝐚 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐲𝐚𝐦 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩 by accomplished Bharatanatyam artist @beingpavithraS.
Sharing a video souvenir from the same.
For more details, check out: https://t.co/ddjM0mQpXb @sampadananda @rishihooduni pic.twitter.com/P9TZ4lSuJS— Center for Human Sciences | Rishihood University (@rishihoodCHS) December 4, 2025
By opening such a workshop to the youth at university level, the model attempts to reach beyond conventional audiences for classical dance or religious education, offering a structured gateway for urban, educated youngsters to engage with the Gita in a dynamic, embodied way.
At the Centre: Pavithra Srinivasan’s Lifelong Tapasya
Pavithra Srinivasan’s artistic journey forms the backbone of Gita Natyam. Trained under many stalwarts, including Padma Bhushan The Dhananjayans and spiritually guided by Swami Dayananda Saraswati of Arsha Vidya Gurukulam, she describes her practice as a “lifelong tapasya” in Bharatanatyam, Carnatic music, and Vedanta.
She is the founder of Arsha Kala Bharati, an arts school, and has also served as a research fellow with the Centre for Public Diplomacy & Soft Power. Over the years, her thematic solo productions have centred on Hindu scriptures; Gita Natyam is the culmination of that trajectory, an attempt to make the Gita accessible “chapter by chapter, value by value” as live Natya performance, interactive workshops, talk shows/lec-dems, educational films with animation, graphics, visual effects, stories, life lessons, natya & sangeeta, laya & more – all in unison, chapterwise as a sequel.
Recently, Gita Natyam won an award for the Lokarangam Immersive Arts category at the Adani Global Indology Conclave in partnership with IKS, Ministry of Education.
Her digital presence via YouTube films, Instagram reels, and interactive school and university sessions has helped the project find a growing audience of parents, teachers, students, and young adults.
A Growing Ecosystem of Dance-Based Scriptural Learning
Gita Natyam’s digital footprint suggests a rapidly expanding community. Instagram reels promote “Bhagavad Gita in Natya” workshops; YouTube channels feature interactions with school students and university participants; Facebook and LinkedIn pages highlight collaborations with Dharmic networks, cultural bodies, and youth institutions.
Across platforms, the message remains consistent: the Bhagavad Gita becomes more relatable when experienced through movement, melody, and narrative, when it is not only learned but lived.
To know more about Gita Natyam’s journey, you can check out https://gitanatyam.com/
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