The Chennai Music and Dance
festival
The Chennai Music and Dance festival celebrated during
the latter half of December and early part of January
is a cultural extravaganza that has no parallel anywhere
in the world. A unique feature of this art festival
is the fact that upcoming artistes also get a chance
to exhibit their talents to this city of music and dance
lovers at large along with the well-established artistes.
Art lovers from various parts of the world visit the
city during this season and in nearly all of them there
is always a rush for tickets.
It's a celebration of the classical music and dance
of South India, with songs in all the main languages
- Tamil, Telugu, and Kannada. At each venue there's
usually a lecture and demonstration in the morning,
followed by several concerts, each lasting around three
hours, in the afternoon and evening.
Most of the concerts start with a "Varnam",
an up tempo introduction. Then there are several songs,
the Kirtanas performed, before the main number. The
'Raga' is the basis of Carnatic music, five to seven
notes arranged in ascending or descending scales. There
are 72 main ragas and several hundred variations of
each, all organized into a complex classification.
The main instruments used are the Violin, Wooden Flute,
'Veena' (a large string instrument) 'Goottuvadyam' (similar
to Veena but without frets), 'Nagaswaram' (pipe), 'Thavil'
(percussion instrument), 'Mridangam' (drum), and even
'Ghatam' (a mud pot).
Performers to look out for include Vocalists K.V.
Narayanaswami, M.S. Subbulakshmi, T. Brinda, Balamurali
Krishna, T.N. Seshagopalan, T.K. Pattammal and Semmangudi
Srinivasiyer, Violinists T.N. Krishnan, V.V. Subramanina,
M.S. Gopalakrishnan, Lalgudi Jayaraman and G.L.R. Krishnan,
Veena Players Gayatri and Chitti Babu, Flutists N. Ramani,
T. Viswanathan and Sikkil Sisters, Gottuvadyam Player
N. Ravi Kiran Nagaswaram players Shaik Chinna Moulana
Sahib and Namagiripettai, and Mridangam players T.K.
Murthy, Palghat Raghu, Vellore Ramabhadran, Umayalpuram
Sivaram and T.V. Gopalakrishnan.
From mid-December to mid-January, Chennai comes alive
with the annual classical music and dance festival.
If one is in Chennai, one should make it a point and
watch a performance. Programs are advertised in the
newspapers, but still it's also worth asking the tourist
office for a list of venues.
HOW TO GET THERE
Air: Chennai has an airport with both domestic and international
terminals. Regular flights connect Chennai with the
major cities within the country and also with countries
like USA, Singapore, U.K etc.
Rail: Chennai is well connected by rail with the important
towns and cities within and beyond the state.
Road: State transport buses and private buses connect
Chennai with the major towns and cities within the country.
For local transportation local trains, city buses, auto
rickshaws and taxis are available.
Ensample of Dravidian Architecture
An exquisite depiction of Dravidian architecture is
the Kapaleeshwara (also spelt as Kapaleeshwar) temple
with its massive and intricately carved gopuram towering
into the sky. This 8th century Pallava temple dedicated
to Lord Shiva is situated in the traditional part of
Chennai at Mylapore. The main deity, Lord Shiva, is
worshipped as "Kapaleeshwarar" and Goddess
Parvati as "Karpagambal". The temple is very
famous and attracts thousands of devotees especially
during festival days.
The bronze idols of the 63 Nayanmars, the saints who
were devotees of Lord Shiva are placed within the Kapaleeshwarar
Sannadhi. The Nayanmars glorified Lord Shiva with enchanting
hymns. In March - April during the Arubathimoovar festival
all the Nayanmars are taken in a colourful procession
through the streets of Mylapore.
HOW TO GET THERE
Air: Chennai has an airport with both domestic and international
terminals. Regular flights connect Chennai with the
major cities within the country and also with international
countries such as USA, Singapore, U.K., etc.
Rail: Chennai is well connected by rail with the important
towns and cities within and beyond the state.
Road: State transport buses and private buses connect
Chennai with the major towns and cities within the country.
For local transportation local trains, city buses, auto
rickshaws and taxis are also available.
|
