THRISSUR: Kedamangalam Sadanandan is one name every kadhaprasangam enthusiast will remember with passion and respect. His passing away, after a 64-year stellar career, marked the end of an era. However, his grand niece Anuvrata Sooraj kept his name still in the news on the opening day of the 58th State School Youth Festival here on Saturday by winning an A grade in the event.Anuvrata presented the story Netri Enna Penkutti from Marana Vidyalayam by Susmesh Chandroth. A student of BDSHS, Karimbadom, Anuvrata is quite good at the art of of story-telling and wants to follow in Sadanandan's footsteps, not by imitating him but creating a style of her own.
What stands out already is the clarity of her voice and intonation. Many people believe she has the potential to make it really big in the art, even though emulating Sadanandan's achievement of 50,000 hours on stages across Kerala would be too tough an asking.Karimbadam Satyan, nephew of Kedamangalam, is Anuvrata's grandfather. He was a kadhaprasangam artist himself in the 1970s. Satyan's son Sooraj was a disciple of Kedamangalam. Sooraj is now a high school teacher, but continues to perform on stages.
Sooraj won the Kerala Sangeetha Nadaka Akademi Award for 2016-17. Now his daughter is eager to maintain the great's legacy.“He (Kedamangalam) is my teacher. I learned the art from him. We dedicate Anuvrata's A grade achievement to him. I'm proud my daughter is able to take the art to the fourth generation,” said Sooraj.
Kedamangalam is still remembered for the stubbornness and sheer will with which he continued his vocation even when age had started to tire him out. His Ramanan, inspired by Changampuzha Krishna Pillai's romantic elegy by the same name, alone was performed in more than 3,000 stages.
Chief Minister gives State Youth Fest opening a miss
Thrissur: The 58th Kerala State School Youth Festival began on a colourful note on Saturday in the cultural capital where Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was conspicuous by his absence. Pinarayi chose to attend the CPM Kollam district conference. In his absence, Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan lit the lamp to inaugurate the festival.