Curtains will go up for the 20th Ananthapuri Dance and Music Festival-2012, an annual event organised by the Sree Chithra Thirunal Memorial Sangeetha Natyakala Kendram, in the city on Saturday. The 11-day event will feature programmes by noted artistes. The 100th birth anniversary of Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma and the ‘Navathy’ of Uthradom Thirunal Marthanda Varma will be celebrated on the occasion.
On Saturday, Deputy Mayor G Happykumar will inaugurate the arts competitions at 5 pm at Sri Chithra Home Auditorium. On the evening of the same day, contests for children, including ‘Little King’ and ‘Little Queen’ and dance and music competitions, will be held at the same venue. The arts competition will end on November 7.
Cultural Affairs Minister K C Joseph will inaugurate the cultural events on November 8. Education Minister P K Abdu Rabb will crown the little king and little queen and give away prizes to winners of the smiling competition. K C Joseph will honour Uthradom Thirunal Marthanda Varma, who is celebrating his 90th birthday, with a ‘ponnada’. A music concert by Anuradha Krishnamurthy is planned on the day.
Minister of State for Civil Aviation K C Venugopal will inaugurate the programmes on November 9. The day’s programmes include a classical dance recital by actress Devi Chandana and bhajans by Sreekanth Hariharan.
Deputy Speaker N Sakthan will be inaugurate the cultural programmes on November 10. Speaker G Karthikeyan will inaugurate the programmes on Novenber 11.
Floral tributes will be paid to Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma at the Panchavadi, Kowdiar Palace, on November 12. It will be followed by a musical tribute at Sri Chithra Thirunnal Home Auditorium. Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi (ASNA) chairman Soorya Krishnamurthy will inaugurate the programme.
Agriculture Minister K P Mohanan will inaugurate the valedictory ceremony on November 13.
