Sri Swati Tirunal Jayanthi

The 197th Swathi Thirunal Jayanthy and 68th Anniversary of Sri Swati Tirunal Sangita Sabha is being held between 28th April and 9th May, 2010 at the Karthika Thirunal Theatre, East Fort, Trivandrum.

Following is schedule of some of the performers.

28th April: Bombay Sisters

29th April: Sreevalsan Menon

2nd May : Rudrapattanam Brothers

4th May: Neyveli Santhanagoplan

5th May : Dr.Ranganath Sharma

7th May: Madurai GS Mani

9th May: TV Gopalakrishnan

I was able to attend the concert of Srivalsan Menon on 29th.

Here is a partial list of songs from his concert.

Jaya jaya padmanabha : Sarasangi

Paripaalayam - Reeti gowla

Paalayamam -Khamas

Anjaneyane -Saaveri

Paramapurusha - Vasantha

RTP- Kaapi , (Misra chaapu)

(sorry, no pictures, as I had not taken my camera. Let me see if the phone cam picture is good enough to post.)

Liminal Space - a bronze work by KS Radhakrishnan

KS Radhakrishnan, the renowned artist, exhibited his magnum opus in bronze, 'Liminal space' at the Kanakakunnu palace, Trivandrum. Though this was smaller than the exhibits at Mumbai and Kolkata, it did not fail to impress. For Radhakrishnan, who spent his early days at Shantiniketan, the muse is the Santhal couple, Musui and Maiya who appear in all his works in various sizes and shapes. More details at: http://beta.thehindu.com/arts/art/article407754.ece
and
http://ksradhakrishnan.com/images/Liminal_Figures_catalogue.pdf

Gavi, Eco tourism

Gavi

Gavi is still unspoilt tourist spot. It is about 200 Kms from Trivandrum. It is 26 Km from Vandipperiyar which is a small town between Mundakkayam and Kumili (for Thekkadi) .
The Kerala Forest Development Corporation offers eco tourism packages to this lovely spot. http://www.gaviecotourism.com/index.html
The booking for the package can be done at their counter in Kumili and also on the website. However, on has to buy the entrance passes at the Vandiperiyar Forest checkpost as this comes under the Periyar tiger Reserve.
The package includes, breakfast, lunch and dinner, overnight stay, trekking, boating and a jeep safari. Overall, it was well organised and the staff was very friendly and helpful. I also liked the Forest department involving the local community in all the activities as guides, maintenance staff etc. Since we went during the off-season, we could see only a few elephants and bisons. Despite all precautions, including leech socks and  liberal appilcation of salt, we were bitten by leeches during the trek. Beware, medical facilities are very limited and telephone cennectivity is very poor.Overall we were satisfied, but I came away with the feeling that tourism is being emphasised at the cost of ecology and safety.
More pictures can be viewed at:  Gavi Pictures


Reception area

Herd of elephants

Old lady by the jewlery showroom

Right below the life size display of an elephant trio, this old lady was warding off the morning sun, trying to sell an assortment of snacks and other knickknacks.What a contrast she makes with the jewellery ads and promotions!

Elephant display at East Fort

This life like display of elephants with full regalia was to promote a jewellery showroom in East Fort neat the Anandapadmanabha swamy temple.

Rajasthan Crafts Fair

The third craft fair was the Rajasthan Craft Fair at the Rajsekaran Nair (Police) Stadium by the Rajasthan Hastakala Samiti.
The exhibits were very similar to the ones in the VJT hall, including the Orissa tribal painitngs.

Kerala Artisans' Development Corporation, Craft Mela at VJT Hall

Simultaneously there are three craft exhibitions going on in Thiuvananthapuram this week. I had already reported about the Gandhi Shilp Bazaar at Kanakakunnu. The other one is the Kerala Artisans' Development Corporatio's Craft Mela at the VJT Hall.

Bangles in Boxes                                                                                                            Bangles on stand

Tribal art from Orissa - ceramic on canvas

 Orissa art - applique

Craft Exhibition

Collage of some exhibits at the Gandhi Shilp Exhibition at the Kanakunnu palace grounds.

Natural bird nests for sale

This is Kuttappan at his stall selling bamboo products.- bamboo ek tara, bamboo drums, lampshdes, wine mugs, penstands etc. Kuttappan comes from Ramakkalmedu in Idukky district. Legend has it that Lord Rama halted at Ramakkal medu in search of Sita as this place overlooks a vast valley and some towns of Tamil Nadu.