Maricha the golden deer and Ravana’s abduction of Sita presented by Omkar Arts at Indian Heritage Centre’s CultureFest 2020

The Indian Heritage Centre's CultureFest 2020 went into its second weekend with another round of interesting workshops and performances. 

The IHC CultureFest had kicked off with its first-ever digital launch on September 5 followed by an eclectic line-up of programmes revolving around the epic Indian literary work – The Ramayana.

Omkar Arts' The Golden Deer starts with a joyful Rama and Sita in the forest. Photo Courtesy: IHC
Omkar Arts' The Golden Deer starts with a joyful Rama and Sita in the forest. Photo Courtesy: IHC

From September 5-20, #ihcculturefest is bringing audiences various cultural showcases via its Facebook page. 

Also watch: Indian arts through the lens of Ramayana: A sneak peek of CultureFest 2020

In the past week, the variety of evening shows lined-up by IHC has included Ramayana in the Limelight and the Ramayana Retold Series: Motherhood, Warriors in the Making, The Wedding and The Mountains which was followed by The Golden Deer on Friday evening. 

The Golden Deer Maaricha leads Lord Rama away from Sita in this performance at the IHC Culture Fest. Photo Courtesy: IHC
The Golden Deer Maaricha leads Lord Rama away from Sita in this performance at the IHC Culture Fest. Photo Courtesy: IHC

Omkar Arts portrayed Maaricha the Rakshasa who transforms into a golden deer in  Ramayana Retold: The Golden Deer. National Parks of Singapore provided a beautiful backdrop for this performance.

Rama and later Lakshmana head into the forest to capture the deer as per Sita’s desire and Ravana appears disguised as a Sanyasi begging for alms. 

The music of popular Indian band Agam and the vocals of its lead singer Harish Sivaramakrishnan grab attention from the first beat of the music. 

Set to amazing music by Indian band Agam is this captivating performance at IHC Culture Fest 2020. Photo Courtesy: IHC
Set to amazing music by Indian band Agam is this captivating performance at IHC Culture Fest 2020. Photo Courtesy: IHC

The frisky golden deer with its prancing steps becomes the next focus, but the best bit was when the sage spins into Ravana. 

Omkar Arts' stirring dance story starts on a joyful note with Rama and Sita in the forest and ends on the grim note of her capture by Ravana. 

Watch the full performance by Omkar Arts on the Indian Heritage Centre Facebook page here. 

IHC brings you Daily Cultural content capsules at 1pm and Daily Cultural performance videos at , 6pm. 

Check out the schedule and catch all the exciting events and programmes lined up for the 6th edition of the IHC CultureFest via Facebook from September 5-20.