Kathak by Rani Khanam

Digital duo. A viewer snapping Kathak performance with his phone camera. 

 Rani Khanam performing. The evening performance was preceded by her lecture demonstration of "Improvisation aspects of Kathak -Laya and Bhav" in the morning

Manipuri dance by Suman Sarawgi and party at Mudra Festival

Suman Sarawgi and troupe at Mudra festival, Vylopilli bhavan, Trivandrum

Ms.Sarawgi will followup her performance on Monday with a lecdem on Tuesday on 'Tracing the origin of Manipuri dance- one of the oldest as well as a living tradition of India",  Pity I will miss it.

Krishnavataram Nangiarkoothu

Margi Usha performing Krishnavataram Nangiarkoothu at Margi, Trivandrum.. Edakka and Mizhavu can be seen the background. 

Veena concert at Levee Hall

Anantha Padmanabhan and Anand Kaushik on the Veena at the Swati Sangeetothsawam conducted by Doordarshan Kendra, Thiruvananthapuram, at Levee Hall, fort.

OS Arun at Swathi Sangeethotsavam

On the last day of Swati Sangeethotsav, OS Arun regaled the audience with his unique style. here he is singing "Shyama Mohana" 

Swathi Sangeethotsawam 2013 at Kuthira maalika

The generally sleepy Kuthira maalika comes alive every January with the Swathi Sangeethotsavam.- a week long festival of concerts. It was inaugurated on Friday, the 4th January this year  with a concert by Sanjay Subramanyan.

On 5th January, Price Rama Varma was the artiste. Here are some pictures of the concert and the venue.

This being the Bicentenary of Maharaja Swati Thirunal, it is a 10 day festival from 4th January to 13th January, instead of the usual 7 days. The detailed programme is given below: (courtesy: kuthiramalika info)

Swathi Sangeethotsavam January 4th to 13th ,2013

              At Kuthiramalika Palace , East Fort , Trivandrum

 

4-1-2013                   Sri Sanjay Subrahmanyan              -    Vocal                     

Friday                       Sri S.Varadarajan                          -    Violin

6pm to 9pm              Sri S.J.Arjun Ganesh                     -    Mridangam

                                Udupi Sri Srikanth                         -    Kanjira

                                Dr S.Karthick                                -    Ghatam

                              

 

5-1-2013                   Prince Rama Varma                      -     Vocal

Saturday                   Sri S.Varadarajan                          -     Violin

6pm to 9pm              Sri B.Harikumar                            -     Mridangam

                                Dr S.Karthick                                -     Ghatam

 

 

6-1-2013                   Master Siddharth                            -     Vocal         

Sunday                     Sri Sampath                                   -      Violin

5 to 6:30pm              Dr G.Babu                                     -      Mridangam

 

6:30pm                     Sri J.B Sruthisagar                         -      Flute

                                Sri Sampath                                  -      Violin

                                Sri N.C.Bharadwaj                        -     Mridangam

                                Nerkunam Sri Shankar                   -     Kanjira

                                Sri Hariharasubramaniam               -     Ghatam

 

 

7-1-2013                   Ms Amrutha Venkatesh                 -     Vocal               

Monday                    Avaneeswaram Sri S.R.Vinu         -     Violin 

6pm to 9pm              Dr G.Babu                                   -    Mridangam

                                Perukavu Sri P.L.Sudheer             -    Ghatam

                                                                                          

 

8-1-2013                   Sikkil Sri Gurucharan                     -    Vocal

Tuesday                   Sri V.Sanjeev                                 -    Violin

6pm to 9 pm            Poongulam Sri Subramaniam          -    Mridangam

                               Manjoor Sri Unnikrishnan               -    Ghatam          

 

 

9-1-2013                 Ramakrishnan Murthy                     -    Vocal

Wednesday            Avaneeswaram Sri S.R.Vinu            -    Violin

6pm to 9pm            Palghat Sri Maheshkumar                -    Mridangam

                              Perukavu Sri P.L.Sudheer               -    Ghatam

 

 

 

10-1-2013                Smt Ranjini Guruprasad                 -    Vocal

Thursday                 Sri R.K Sriramkumar                     -    Violin

6pm to 9pm             Sri B.Ganapathyraman                  -    Mridangam

                               Udupi Sri Sridhar                          -    Ghatam

11-1-2013                 Sri Debapriya Adhikary                 -    Hindustani Vocal

Friday                      Sri Samanwaya Sarkar                   -    Sitar     

6pm to 9pm              Sri Nitin Mitta                               -    Tabla                                                               

 

 

12-1-2013                 Sri Vighnesh Eashwar                   -    Vocal

Saturday                   Sri S.R.Mahadev Sarma               -    Violin

6pm to 9pm              Sri K.V Prasad                             -    Mridangam

                                Udupi Sri Srikanth                        -    Kanjira

                                Sri Guruprasad                             -    Ghatam

                               

 

13-1-2013                 Sri O.S. Arun                                -    Vocal

Sunday                    M.R.Gopinath                                -    Violin

6pm to 9pm             Sri J.Vaidhyanathan                        -    Mridangam

                               Dr S.Karthick                                 -    Ghatam

                               Sri Ganapathi                                 -    Tabla    

Bihu dance

 

Bihu dance from Assam at Vylopilli .

The Bihu dance is performed in Assam by most of the tribes during the Bihu festival which coincides with Vishu in Kerala and Tamil New Year (mid April) . Men and women in colourful costumes perform this vigorous dance . The songs depicting many themes, are accompanied by the dhol, a horn, and a bamboo reed instument besides the brass taal. 

''Adharam Madhuram, Vadanam Madhuram...", the beauty of Krishna. Odissi dance by Orissa Dance Academy led by Ms. Aruna Mohanty.

Vyloppilli Samskriti Bhavan

Now I am on the mailing list of Vylopilli Samskriti Bhavan.

During the last Nangyar koothu performance, I dropped my lens pouch in the Koothambalam. I could retrieve it three days later thanks to Ms. Annie, the programme officer and other friendly staff of the Bhavan. Annie has also put me on the mailing list for the monthly programmes. No more straining to read the "Today's Engagement' column in the Hindu.

Last Saturday, I missed the Chakyar Koothu by Margi Chakyar. The next two programmes are Malayalam Drama and poetry evenings. I may give them a go-by.

Nangiar Koothu at Vyloppilli Samskriti Bhavan

The koothambalam shaped auditorium at Vyloppilli Samskriti Bhavan regularly hosts several cultural events. The event on last Friday (21st May) was solo Nangyarkoothu performance by the accomplished Smt.Kalamandalam Sindhu - Sreekrishnacharitham -Govardhanodharanam.  She was accompanied by Margi Ramanunni, Sajikumar on Mizhavu, Kalamandalam Mohanan on Thimila and Kumari Amritha on thalam.

Neyveli Santhanagopalan at Swati Tirunal Jayanthi

It was Neyveli Santhanagopalan on the 7th day of Swati Tirunal jayanthi at the Karthika Thirunal Theatre, Trivandrum. He was ably accompanied by HN Bhaskar on violin, Prof. Parassala Ravi on Mridangam and TV Vasan on Ghatam.

Here is a partial list of his kutcheri;

MaayaaTita Swarupini (Maaya mowLa GowLa) (Ponnaiah Pillai composition. This was a deviation from the convention as most artistes stick to Swati compositions during the Swati Jayanthi.) Palukavemina (Poornachandrika), Padmanabha paahi (Hindolam) and Pankajalochana (Kalyani ?) .

Due to the poor ventilation  in the auditorium, we could not stay during the 'thani'. The picture quality is also not very good because of  the limited lighting on the stage.

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

Film Festival

There is a feast for the film buffs in Trivandrum. In additional to the several film clubs, the Government sposored Film Festival held every December is also very popular. The films are screend in several venues. One can register as a delegate on-line and also reserve seats for particular shows. The above image greets visitors to the 14th International Film Festival of Kerala, in front of the Kanakakunnu Palace, one of the venues in 2009.

Saura paintings from Koraput, Odissa

Today, my quest for cultural knowledge led me to the Orissa Crafts fair at the iconic VJT Hall, Palayam. The above picture is of a 'Saura' Tribal painting from Koraput District, Odissa. I learn that the Suaras are one of the oldest tribes in the sub-continent. They have been mentioned even in the Ramayana and Mahabharata. Their paintings invariably have some religious significance. The above painting is on tussore silk and was being offered for Rs 7000.

Most artisans or traders who come to sell such handicraft items are not good salesmen. If they can give the background, history, ethnicity, intricacy, exclusivity and significance of these works, I am sure there will be more takers. It can also give the buyer a 'story' to share with her friends and create word-of-mouth publicity. If the artisans themselves are not good communicators, they can be aided by brief leaflets or presentations. Small versions of these can also be inserted into the packaging for the buyer to take home. A certificate of authenticity by any credible (sounding) body can also enhance the value.

Applique works from Puri Dt.

Kathakali at Margi inside East Fort

One can watch Kathakali, Koodiyattam or Nangiar Koothu performances at Margi situated near Fort School , Trivandrum. Click on the photo or visit : http://picasaweb.google.com/vihar7/Kathakali# for more images

From Kathakali