Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Kerala celebrates Onam through the week!

Kerala Tourism has earmarked September 5-11 for Onam Week. If you plan to be in the state capital during that time, you will witness a veritable feast of music, dance, painting and martial arts programmes from the modern, traditional, folk and classical genres of Kerala.


Chief Minister Oommen Chandy will inaugurate the state-level celebrations in Thiruvananthapuram which will host the programmes in as many as 29 venues in and around the city, including the banks of Vellayani Lake.

Nishagandhi Auditorium, where the inauguration will be held, is among the three major venues — the others being Central Stadium and Vyloppilly Samskrithi Bhavan.


Nishagandhi will host an experimental ensemble on the opening day. Named ‘Journey of Rhythm’, the programme will feature Padmashri Mattannur Sankarankutty Marar (chenda), Alappuzha Karunamurthy (tavil), U Rajesh (mandolin), Prakash Ulleri (keyboard), Mahesh Mani (tabla and mridangam) and Manjunath.

The leading shows at the fete include dance by actress Padmashri Shobana, music by Padmabhushan Dr. K J Yesudas, M G Sreekumar and G Venugopal and magic by Gopinath Muthukad, besides plays by theatre groups. A food festival will also be organised by KTDC.
 


More than 50 folk arts forms from the Malabar region, such as ‘Velakali’, ‘Parayanthullal’, ‘Theyyam’ and ‘Poothanum Thirayum,’ will be among the main attractions of the Onam celebrations this year.

Central Stadium will host mega shows by various media houses. The entry gate at Kanakakkunnu Palace will stage chenda recitals (both melam and thayambaka), while classical music concerts will be held inside the auditorium. The evenings at VJT Hall will feature poetry sessions (from 4pm) followed by professional drama, while amateur plays will be staged at the Institute of Engineers Hall.


Bapuji Library at Peroorkada, Public Office vicinity and Poojapura Maidan will be venues for ganamela. Bharath Bhavan, too, will host ganamela, besides folk arts. Vyloppilly Samskrithi Bhavan’s open-air venue will stage group dance, while it will be solo dances at the Koothambalam.

Other programmes include magic and comedy shows, Kathaprasangam, Kalaripayattu, Kathakali, Patakam, Akshrashlokam and Koothu besides folk arts in Sopanam, Sooryakanthi Mini Stage, Thiruvarangu and Nattarangu.

Kanakakkunnu will have a painting and a photography exhibition, while N Krishna Pillai Foundation will host programmes by women and children. A colourful procession will march through the city on Thursday as a prelude to the Onam celebrations which will feature ‘Pulikali’ by 50 artists from Thrissur.

Photo credit: Kerala Tourism

1 comment:

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