Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Nishagandhi festival to begin on Saturday

Staff Reporter

West Bengal to co-host the fete

Thiruvananthapuram: Connoisseurs of art and music can look forward to seven nights of Indian classical dance and music when the curtain goes up on Kerala Tourism's annual Nishagandhi festival here on Saturday.

To be held at the Nishagandhi Open Air Auditorium inside the sprawling Kanakakunnu Palace grounds, the week-long cultural extravaganza will include a food festival and craft mela at the Sooryakanthi Grounds.

West Bengal will co-host the fete, presenting its traditional art forms at the Sooryakanthi Open Air Auditorium as part of the cultural exchange.

Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan will inaugurate the festival by lighting the `Kalluvillaku' Saturday in the presence of dignitaries and cine actors. Kerala Kalamandalam chairman and poet O.N.V. Kurup, who penned the title song for the Nishagandhi festival a decade ago, will be honoured at the function. A special choreographed programme and Mohiniyattom by Neena Prasad will follow.

West Bengal will showcase various art forms, including a ballet `Prakriti and Arghya' by Mamata Shankar and her troupe at Sooryakanthi on the inaugural day. A Chhau performance by Madhumita Paul, Baul music by Manimohan Das and team, dance dramas based on Tagore's play `Chitrangada' and `Chandalika,' and vocals and dance will follow.

Odissi by Madhavi Mudgal, Bharatanatyam by N. Srikanth and Aswathy, Carnatic music by T.V. Sankaranarayanan, Kuchipudi by Vyjanthi Kashi, Manipuri by Priti Patel, and Bharatanatyam by C.V. Chandrasekhar will be staged. Fusion music by Mattannur Sankarankutty and Balabhaskar and ghazal by Pankaj Udhas will be the attractions on the closing day. The crafts mela will exhibit souvenirs made of ethnic products such as bamboo, cane, clay and coconut shell. Major hotels and resorts will participate in the food festival. The hotels will offer a wide variety of cuisine, from the spicy Chettinad and exotic Mughlai to the delightful Bengali and sumptuous Kerala food.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

State to lobby for railway projects
Opportunities Fair to help launch dream careers
Devaswom boards in the dock
Elephant tusks seized, two arrested
Action plans to tackle drought proposed
Nishagandhi festival to begin on Saturday
NDF seeks ban on Modi
`Aim is to make entire State an IT destination'
Awareness programmes on copyright planned
Two killed in accidents
Suicide bid: student admitted to hospital
CDs seized
Around the City
In Thiruvananthapuram Today

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu