THOUGHT OF THE DAY, PENSIERO DEL GIORNO:

"The Bharatanatyam recital is structured like a Great Temple:
we enter through the gopuram
(outer half) of alarippu, cross the ardhamandapam (halfway hall) of jatiswaram, then the mandapam (great hall) of shabdam and enter the holy precinct of the Deity in the varnam...."

BALA