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The festival began with a homage to Tyagaraja. Puduppariyaram Unnikrishnan, Lola Kesavan, Ananthy Krishnamoorthy and Rajalekshmi Parameswaran (Carnatic vocalists), Kottakkal Madhu (Kathakali padams), Geetha (Mohiniyattom) and Visakha (Bharatanatyam) were the artistes who performed on the first day.

The main programme was a vocal concert by Abhishek Raghuram, grandson of mridangam maestro Palakkad Raghu. Abhishek, along with R. Swaminadhan on the violin, Unnikrishnan on the mridangam and Payyannur Govindaprasad on the mukharsangh, evoked a fine musical ambience from the first piece itself. ‘Eranapai,’ an Adi tala varnam of Garbhapuri Vasan in raga Thodi, was sung in two speeds.

Next came ‘Parulave,’ a Tyagaraja kriti in Poornachandrika. It was laced with chittaswara. ‘Janakee Ramana’ of Vanamamalai Jeeyar in Kapi, set to Adi tala, was embellished with aesthetic modulations that captured the richness of the composition.

The main item was the Swati Tirunal kriti ‘Pankajalochana’ in Kalyani, set to Misrachappu. Niraval and impressive kalpanaswara segments at ‘Vrindavanantha’ were well received by music aficionados.

Abhishek wound up the concert with Swati Tirunal’s Mangalam ‘Bhujagasayino’ in Yadukulakamboji.

The second day featured Carnatic vocal concerts by Visakha and Greeshma, Ambikapuram Sivaraman, Ganapathy Iyer and students of Chembai Sangeetha college.

A flute recital by Sooryanarayanan and a harmonium recital by Udaya Sankarlal were the other attractions on that day. The highlight on that day was a scintillating vocal concert by Prasanna Venkitaraman. Prasanna was accompanied by Viju S. Anand on the violin, K. Jayakrishnan on the mridangam and E.M. Dipu on the ghatom.

Prasanna began on a lilting note with Adi tala varnam ‘Sami nine kori’ in Sreeraga. ‘Apparamabhakthi entho,’ composed by Tyagaraja in Roopaka tala, was adorned with delectable niraval and impeccable manodharma swara at ‘Thripatalanu deerchi kandhi.’

‘Sukhi evvaro,’ a Tyagaraja kriti set to Adi tala, was embellished with cascading swaraprastharas. ‘Ramanai bhajithal noyvinai theerume’ in Mandhu and a ragamalika slokam from Sreemad Bhagavatham followed by a Soordas bhajan ‘He Govinda, he Gopala’ in Desh evoked devotion. The concert concluded with a thillana in Ragesri and ‘Pitham theliya’ of Gopalakrishna Bharathi in chenchurutty. The festival wound up with a Kathakali performance by ‘Mudrakhya’ and mangalarathy.

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