For more than two decades Devi Dance Theater has continued to forge new alliances between music and dance; traditional and cutting edge. The company shall premiere its new work Mandala - a voyage within inspired by Mettika's poem from Therigatha, which is the earliest known anthology of women's literature in India, and perhaps in the world. These poems are a collection of songs composed by Buddhist nuns written in the Pali language in Sixth Century B.C. The poignant autobiographical poems recount a soul's journey through grief to ultimate liberation. The authors of these exquisite lyrics sought truth not in social conformity, or in moral law, but rather in uncharted journeys of selfhood. Each poem is an autobiographical epiphany of soul. This work has been conceived by Nilimma Devi and choreographed by Devi, Anila Kumari and Khilton Nongmaithen (a martial artist and modern dancer). They have turned the Buddhist poem into a visual feast by lyrical movements of classical Kuchipudi dance and dynamic strokes of Thang-Ta (a rare form of martial arts).