Every Pongal, Chennai empties. Trains overflow, highways stretch endlessly, and those who stay back for work, for convenience, and some because the village they remember no longer exists the way it once did, make quiet plans at home. However, for the past couple of years, the city has found its own way of celebrating the harvest, all within its borders. Chennai Sangamam — Namma Ooru Thiruvizha, now almost inseparable from the Pongal calendar, has transformed urban parks, beaches, and playgrounds into temporary villages, where folk artistes parade traditions that many city dwellers only hear about on social media. For families who cannot travel back to their hometowns, and for a generation that has grown up far from temple festivals and rural fairs, the festival offers a rare window into Tamil Nadu’s living folk cultures.
This year, the festival was held across 20 areas between January 14 and 18. Inaugurated by Chief Minister MK Stalin and MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhi on January 14 at Rajarathinam Stadium in Egmore, the celebrations expanded to neighbourhood grounds including Ambattur, Avadi, Tambaram, and Pallavaram. The city pulsed with parai beats, karagam balancing acts, street theatre, and shadow puppetry.
Nearly 1,500 artistes from 58 groups performed over five days, after being shortlisted through a three-stage selection process that began as early as May. Explaining the scale behind the scenes, B Hemanathan, joint deputy director (Schemes), Directorate of Art and Culture, says, “We had a total of 1,084 teams participating in the first phase, from which we selected about 20 groups for each of the eight regions, making it 140 groups, and finally, 58 groups participated in the Sangamam.” He adds that two new arenas were introduced this year — Tambaram and Pallavaram.
Along with geography, the festival also widened its artistic canvas. “We have introduced some new art forms after witnessing their live performances,” Hemanathan says, noting the inclusion of drama-based art forms like Tholpavaikkoothu, Bommalattam, and Therukoothu.
If the stages reflected diversity, the crowds exuded devotion. Programme coordinator PM Sivakumar, who oversaw logistics and the inaugural show, recalls steady footfall everywhere — an average of 2,500 to 3,000 in each venue every day, he says. During these Pongal afternoons, he observes, the roads grew quiet, but the festival venues filled up with people who came to enjoy the folk performances, music, and food.
That mention of food is not incidental. Almost inevitably, music and movement led visitors toward the aroma of spices and grills. This year, a non-vegetarian feast, Kari Virundhu, was curated with a Virudhunagar-based menu — reviving an older Chennai Sangamam tradition of spotlighting district cuisines. For Sivakumar, the logic was simple. “Just as we give the initiative for rural artistes to shine, the specialty foods from each district should also shine,” he says. In a city built by migration, he adds, “when their regional flavours are available here, it gives them happiness.”
Arc of artistes
For Padma Shri recipient Velu Aasan, who opened the festival with a parai performance and was later sanctioned 60 cents of land in Valayankulam, Madurai, for establishing a training school by the Samar Martial Arts Group, the event marked both memory and a milestone. Looking back to his first appearance in 2007, he recalls, “We were only used to performing on small stages. But it was this Chennai Sangamam that gave us access to such large platforms.” That exposure, he says, changed trajectories. “Through the arts, we artistes have grown, and the art has also grown.”
The land allotment, announced during this edition, felt like a continuation of that journey for him. “They have allocated land for a training centre for me…that’s a very joyful moment. It’s a great step towards promoting and developing the arts.”
For Karagattam artiste Thenmozhi Rajendran, the Chennai Sangamam is personally rooted. “Chennai Sangamam is like a boon for us…for traditional artistes like us, these days are the festival,” she says. This year’s limited number of teams per stage, she notes, allowed performers more breathing space. But what truly moved her was the introduction of the fashion walk.
“This time, they conducted fashion shows for folk artistes, something no one has ever done before,” she says. For artistes, often confined to village stages, the ramp became symbolic. “To conduct it solely with folk artistes…they have given us this as a challenge, showing that we too can do it. This is a great honour for us, like receiving a major award.”
On January 17, the Egmore Museum campus stitched together many such full-circle stories. Nearly 35 artistes, alongside musicians and media personalities, walked the ramp in handloom saris and textiles from Co-optex. Among them was Silambam exponent Aishwarya Manivannan, for whom the night echoed an earlier beginning. “The first video that I did on Silambam was a video with me wearing a handloom cotton sari from Co-optex,” she recalls.
Returning to Chennai Sangamam — this time as a performer rather than a spectator or an amateur photojournalist — felt like reclaiming a dream she once imagined. “Chennai Sangamam is a very educational event for us to become more aware of our own tradition,” she says. On the idea of folk artistes presenting textiles, she adds, “These folk artistes are living traditions; when we wear a traditional textile, all of them, their values are just like multiplied tenfold.”
Behind the spectacle, quieter bonds were forming. “It was a great way for all of us artistes to meet each other, many of us have already started conversations on collaborative projects,” Aishwarya says, hinting at futures that may extend beyond the festival.
Adding to the festival’s diversity were cultural performances from across the country, from Assam’s vibrant Bihu dance and Mizoram’s rhythmic bamboo dance to Manipur’s energetic Pung Cholom, West Bengal’s soulful Baul music, Gujarat’s Siddi Dhamal, and Kerala’s swirling Kolkali. Inclusivity, too, threaded through the programme. Transgender dancers performed Irainadanam, artistes with disabilities presented Mallakhamb, and forgotten traditional games returned through the initiative of Kreeda at five public spaces.
For Thenmozhi, such gestures carry urgency. “Because we folk artistes have been marginalised,” she says subtly. “It is at events like this that we all come together…folk arts should not perish.” Her closing memory captures the emotion many artistes shared: “It was a greater joy for us to be there than even being at our own maternal home; it was the biggest Pongal festival for us.”
WALK OF PRIDE
The ramp walk saw a striking mix of folk practitioners and familiar faces — actors Jegan and Priyadarshini Neelakantan, Gaana Prabha, choreographer Anusha Vishwanathan, dancers Kali Veerabathiran and Vaanmathi, transgender artistes Ponni and Deva Narthaki, singers Isaivani, Suganthi, Jeyasithan, Gaana Muthu, kavadi attam exponent Sundaramoorthy, Kaalaiaattam artiste Rajan, Koothu performer Thilagavathi, among many others. Adding to the moment, Kavitha Ramu, managing director of Co-optex, and MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhi also joined the artistes on the ramp, turning the walk into a collective celebration of textiles and tradition.