In Memory of a Birth Day

Kalasagar, the organisation founded by Kalamandalam Krishnankutty Poduval, maestro of percussion Chenda at Kavalappara, Palakkad Dt., Kerala and  Palakkad Kathakali Trust is jointly organizing the 90th Birth anniversary celebration of  the maestro on 28 May 2014 . The event named Oru Pirannalinte Ormmakku, In Memory of a Birthday, held at Muncipal Town Hall, Palakkad, Kerala honors artists from different fields of art & culture.

A Melappadam Kacheri, the Orchestra Concert and an over night Kathakali performance  is held on the same day. The Melappadam Kacheri is presented by the disciples of Kalamandalam Krishnankutty Poduval. The over night   Kathakali  performance narrates the three stories - Bheeshma Prathijgna, Dasamugha Ravanan and Baali Vadham. Major artists like Sadanam Krishnankutty, Kottakkal Chandra Sekharan, Kalamandalam Ramachandran Unnithan and Kottakkal Sivadas will play leading roles.

Bharatanatyam Workshop by Rama Vaidyanathan

A workshop on bharathanatyam was held at the Koothambalam of Kerala Kalamandalam, Thrissur Dt., Kerala from 06 to 10 may 2014. The 5-day workshop was conducted by Rama Vaidyanathan, an exponent in the Indian classical dance, Bharatanatyam and was organised by Kalaanidhaa, an intitutuion dedicated to arts.

Thrissur Celebrating the Pooram

Thrissur Pooram, one of the main festivals of Kerala, was celebrated at Thrissur, the cultural capital of state,on 09th of  May this year. The festival, as usual, attracted huge crowd to Thekkinkad Maidanam, the Vadakkumnathan temple ground, where the pooram is conducted every year.The celebrations of pooram began in the city days before. People from all over the world gathered here for witnessing the festival, which is considered as one of the main and biggest temple festivals of Kerala. 

The colourful festival started with the Kodiyettam, the ritualistic hosting of festive flag, on 03 May 2014, seven days before the Thrissur pooram. Ten temples, viz, Thiruvambady, Paramekkavu , Ayyanthole Karthyayini ,Nethilakkavu Bhagavathi , Karamukku ,  Laloor Bhagavathi, Choorakkattukavu Bhagavathi, Chembukkavu Bhagavathi, Panamukkumpally Sastha and Kanimangalam Sastha, participate in this unique festival. These temples form two different groups . Thiruvambadi temple and Parammekkavu temple are the leaders of the two different groups and the key participants of this festival. 

The day before Thrissur pooram, on 08 May 2014, there was exhibitions of the decorations for the elephants participating in pooram, called Aanachamaya Pradarsanam. The exhibitions were conducted by the leaders of the two teams in the festival - the Thiruvambadi and Parammekkavu temples.

The main festival, the Thrissur pooram was celebrated on 09th May 2014 with several rituals including Madathilvaravu, kudamattom and Elanjithara Melam, creating a feast on percussion instruments. The spectacular fireworks begins on 03.00am and continue till early morning. On 10th May, there is Pakal pooram,a brief of the Thrissur Pooram, especially for the localities. The festival ends with the ritual upacharam cholli piriyal, the farewell.

Bharatanatyam Workshop

Kalaanidha, an institution of arts at Panjal, Thrissur is organising a Bharatanatyam
workshop at Kerala Kalamandalam, Cheruthuruthy, Thrissur, Kerala. The 5 days workshop
is conducted by Rama Vaidyanathan, the well known exponent in Bharatanatyam, the Indian Classical Dance.

For details contact Kalamandalam Rajeesh, Director of Kalaanidhaa.
Mob: 09447599766,09995222718, 08129146131
OR
 www.kalaanidhaa.com

Kathak Workshop at Palakkad

SPIC-MACAY, the Society for the Promotion of Indian Classical Music And Culture Amongst Youth, in association with Gowri Creations is organising a National workshop on Kathak at Palakkad, Kerala.The 4-day workshop is conducted by Shalini Sharma, the talented Kathak dancer, at Sripada Natya Kalari at Ramanathapuram, Palakkad from 5 to 8 May 2014.

Sripada Natya Kalari is the dance school run by Methil Devika, the renowned Indian classical dancer and choreographer. 

Registration take place in a first come first served basis. Interested candidates can register the workshop with a fee of INR 1000/-.

For details: +91 8943720044, +91 9847261862

Image Courtesy: Shalini Sharma

A Musical Evening

The music lovers of Thrissur, Kerala in association with Harmony School of Music organised an evening of music on 20th April 2014 at Sahitya Academy Hall, Thrissur.The event presented the the reviews on the songs of late K P Udayabhanu, the playback singer and music director in Malayalam. A documentary of V A Babumaster on the works of late playback singer was played at the event. The musical concert by the nephew of Udayabhanu, Balamurali K P, the guitar performance by Sangeeth Pavithran  and tabla by the students of N V Suresh Master were the main attractions.

Balamurali K P

Sangeeth Pavithran

The association of music lovers of Thrissur is an initiative by Harmony School of Music, a music training institution which has completed their successful 16 years in their drive of music. The main venture of this association is to enhance the level of interest in music among the common people. The association was inaugurated on January 2013 by P Jayachandran, the Malayalam playback singer. Since now, has conducted six programmes in memory of the great singers and music directors of Malayalam - G Devarajan, M S Babural, Raveendran Master, V Dakshinamoorthy, K Raghavan and K P Udayabhanu.

For Details: Harmony School of Music, Adam Bazar, Thrissur, Kerala
Ph: 0487 2426260
Email: harmonyschoolofmusic@ymail.com

Pottery, the Skill

Kumbhara colony, the community of potters is seen in most of the villages of Palakkad dt. of Kerala. The pottery is a skill and art which depicts the tradition and culture of Kerala. Because of the lower profit and high effort, today many of the youngsters are not coming up in their community for this job and so, the art is extincting. At Ramassery village in Palakkad, there is such a community of potters who are still active in this feild. The village of Ramassery is famous for its Ramassery idly, an authentic food from this village.


The potter usually makes his pottery using clay collected from their nearby places or from where it is available. The raw clay is smoothed and made dough mixing it with water using hand. It is then placed in a pottery wheel, a wheel used to mould up the pottery to urns of various shapes and size. With their hand and the pottery wheel, the clay turns into finished pot. The whole process is so amazing and interesting to watch. A product moulded in this way is separated from the wheel using a thin stick. The next step is to harden the clay by placing it in a kiln for baking. They are kept in the kiln for two – three days for hardening. The completed products are ready for sale.