Saree dances 15 metres underwater as freediver retells Sanskrit epics on one breath

Gayatri Rathinavelu is a freediver and underwater dancer who descends up to 15 metres on a single breath, with no tanks or scuba gear, to tell ancient Sanskrit stories beneath the surface. Draped in a saree, she lets its folds unfurl in slow motion like petals blooming in blue water.

She chose the saree because she rarely saw her heritage represented underwater. For her, the five to nine yards of unstitched cloth carries the stories and resilience of the women who paved the way for her generation through their journeys and sacrifices. Water, which she considers a form of meditation, made that connection feel even more profound.

Together, the saree and water become a visual and poetic exploration of women’s empowerment, ancestral wisdom and the reclaiming of spaces where brown women are rarely seen. She calls the project Kali Rising, after the goddess who dances between creation and destruction. It blends underwater photography, videography and poetry with Sanskrit epics and Sanatana Dharma archetypes to raise questions on women’s rights and ocean conservation.

Staying calm underwater for that long is possible because of the mammalian dive reflex. When the face meets water, the heart rate slows and blood is redirected to the heart, brain and lungs to conserve oxygen. All mammals have it, and regular training can strengthen it further.

An experienced freediver can slow a resting heart rate of 60 to 100 beats per minute to about 30. Slow movement also spends less oxygen. For Gayatri, calm is not a mood but a mechanism, and it is the state she dances in.

She built that skill through freediving training, meditation and pranayama, the yogic practice of controlled breathing, whose name combines the Sanskrit words for life force and extension. The weighting, fabric choice and movement technique for the saree all depend on her ability to relax fully underwater for long stretches.

Safety is the most important part of every shoot. Gayatri says she never attempts these dives alone and at least one trained safety diver with safety equipment is always present, with more added depending on the location.

Each shoot is planned differently based on what is being shot, where and at what depth. While she dances as deep as 15 metres, the images shared here, shot by Nanna Kreutzmann, Alexis Smith and Marina Valitova, were taken between 5 and 12 metres.