Rasa Yatra

Rasa Yatra is a film very well worth watching several times - each time more details and layers of meaning come to the forefront. The timely - and timeless - message about the contrast between living a traditional life, connected with nature and moving at nature's pace, and the hectic modern life style, disconnected from our environments, is presented through beautiful imagery of tranquil people and places on one hand, fast-paced shots of restless city life and the concrete jungle on the other. The photography is exquisite, the messages are profound. When we watched the film in Denver CO with a large group, the response was amazing. Every single person was totally absorbed in watching and mesmerized; nobody was moving or fidgeting. We all felt enriched by the opportunity to watch this piece of art.

Rasa Yatra film demonstrates an original logic of exploring the spiritual cultures of India. Tomanec explores expressions of the divine in all its manifestations and succeeds in wielding together visually divergent imagery into the organic whole of a multi layered poetic experience. Moving from the grand majesty of natural bounty and the meditative practice of the reclusive ascetics to the artistic and formal vibrancy of the Vaishnava experience in Braj, the film maker's vision ties together various strands of spiritual experience, from the formless aesthetic quality, described in Sanskrit as nirguna, to a new form known as saguna, all in a distinctive vocabulary of creative potential of the chosen medium to its fullest. It is such a fresh perspective, delivered masterfully and most importantly - intimately!

As rising senior at Columbia University who is deeply drawn to the spiritual world of India, I have found Rasa Yatra to respond to a devotional calling within that is both mundane and infinite. Just as its name implies, the essence, or juice (Rasa), of the journey (Yatra) is alive in the myriad faces, landscapes, and climates that comprise play and worship in India. We are lead through that which is impoverished, through that which is abundant along the spiritual and manifest realms of the quest, thereby accurately drawing us closer to the experience of the spiritual search. This is a rare and vibrant gem of a film, reflecting depth and beauty in profound and subtle ways. Param Tomanec does us a great service with this lush and resonant sharing.

This film was indeed a deeply moving journey through a time of intimate connection with the earth, to a dimension so far and distant from our natural place in the world. I felt this film to be rich with visual feasts. At once very startling and powerful in its message, whilst on the other hand meditative, serene and calming. It feels like a personal experience that simply takes your breath away. You feel the inner cry of nature and the innocence of people who live in harmony with her, followed by contrasts of opposing forces. This film contains some of the most soul stirring messages, vivid images and leaves an indelible impression on the mind. A artistic masterpiece.