CHENNAI: Sangeet Natak Akademi, New Delhi and Dr V Raghavan Centre for Performing Arts, Chennai, will present Smrti Kusumanjali, starting on Tuesday. The event will commemorate the centenary year of President awardee T Mukta, a yesteryear classical singer, with a festival on padams and javalis. The two-day event will be held at the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Main Hall in Mylapore.
T Mukta was one of the foremost exponents of Veena Dhanammal school of Carnatic music. She and her sister T Brinda formed a popular duo and were one of the first women duo singers. A recipient of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1973, Mukta was an authority on padams and javalis. She passed away at the age of 93 in 2007.
On the first day, a short film on the legendary musician will be screened, followed by a floral homage to T Mukta by dignitaries. The day will also comprise vocal performances by her eminent disciples like Subhashini Parthasarathy and Nirmala Sundararajan. Mukta’s daughter and disciple Uma Vasudevan will present a bharathanatyam performance.
Day two will have a series of lecture demonstrations by VAK Ranga Rao, R Vedavalli, Ritha Rajan, Subhashini Parthasarathy and Madhavi Rajagopalan. Leela Samson, chairperson of Sangeet Natak Akademi, will release the book Tamizh Padams, compiled by Madhavi Rajagopalan.
The performances of the day will include a group rendering of padams and javalis, and a musical homage by S Sowmya. Legendary danseuse Padma Subrahmanyam will preside over the event as chief guest. The guests of honour for the days are Malati Rangaswami, vice president, The Music Academy, R Vedavalli, veteran musician, Kalanidhi Narayanan, veteran abhinaya exponent, VAK Ranga Rao, a veteran dance enthusiast and S Sowmya, senior classical musician.