Unlike other Indian dance-forms like Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi, Odissi or Kathak, there are not many ventures worth mentioning for new group choreographies in Mohini Attam. This has obviously affected both the national and international presentation of dance pieces set to the Mohini Attam style.

In this backdrop, the latest thematic group choreography of Pallavi Krishnan, under the grant-in-aid project of the Department of Culture, Government of India, Delhi, is of significance. The work titled Salabhanjika was premiered in Thrissur (Kerala) on the 7th February followed by another performance in Kochi on 9th February. Salabhanjika was hailed by the Kerala press and critics for its choreographic aesthetics and the philosophical approach to the story of Ahalya. Pallavi Krishnan led a group of seven other dancers, six of them her senior disciples and the seventh a guest artist, all Bengalis from Kolkata.

Salabhanjika is a thematic woman-oriented piece that tells about the eternal love of a virgin who is like unploughed land. 'Salabhanjika' is a stone sculpture. However, this is no ordinary stone. The poet envisages the existence of Ahalya in this Salabhanjika. It's not a mere retelling of the story of Ahalya, but a portrayal of a bereaved feminine personality with varied shades of conflict, pain, ephemeral happiness, dreams and aspirations using the mystic freedom of the poet, based on the concept of Ahalya. Both macro and micro levels of existence of a human being are portrayed in this theme.

Ahalya, cursed by her husband sage Gautama, was turned into stone. A sculptor, in search of an ideal stone to sculpt the figure of a salabhanjika, finds this stone in a dense forest. He tirelessly works on it, creating every bit of the evolving feminine shape and enjoying the emanating beauty. The result is a captivating Salabhanjika, which is to be placed as a dwarpalika in front of the sanctum sanctorum of a Rama temple. In spite of this metamorphosis, the identity of Ahalya remains in the stone.

Because of Ahalya's presence, the sculpture attains feminine grace and womanly feelings. The constant physical and mental intimacy between the sculptor and Salabhanjika turns into a sense of mutual possession. The split personality within the stone branches out into Ahalya and Salabhanjika. This is an imaginary saga of the innate conflicts of the human heart. Ahalya the cursed spirit longs for salvation, while Salabhanjika yearns for togetherness with the sculptor-- a contrast of moksha and bondage, of spiritual divinity and earthly love. What Rama was for Ahalya, the sculptor turns out to be for Salabhanjika.

Every human being is bound to pass through a temporary transformation in the great drama of life. Nevertheless, even while the transformation goes on, he is the same personality in the inner recesses of his existence. Ahalya's waiting for Rama for her salvation symbolises the liberation from all bondages that is the ultimate aim of human existence.