Thiruvananthapuram is gearing up for another of its landmark gala events — the Attukal Pongala festivities.
Beyond the ritualistic significance, the event has now grown to be a prominent cultural platform where art is presented in both its professional and amateur avatars, for enthusiasts to enjoy.
The precincts of the temple, which will be brisk with activity during the 10 days, house three stages — Amba, Ambika, and Ambalika — where over 45 programmes will be held each day. Out of the three, Amba will be the site for performances by established artists, and the performances by up-and-coming artists will be held at the other two.
“The art side of the festival has grown to such an extent that, where we used to have one stage allotted for the performances, now we have assigned two more,” says Shobha V, president of the festival committee.
This year’s cultural programmes have a splendid star cast, starting with the inauguration itself, by actor Mohanlal on February 23.
Later that day, at 10pm, the much-in-the-news ‘Nandagovindam Bhajans’ takes centre stage at Amba with their foot-tapping numbers that have been the talk of the town.
Another prominent bhajan group, ‘Manasajapalahiri’ by the musical doyen Prasanth Varma, will be performing on February 26 at 5pm.
Other popular names performing on the main stage over the 10 days are Carnatic musician Kalaimamani Dr K Krishnakumar at 6pm on February 24, playback singer Binni Krishnakumar, C S Anuroop and Kumari Parvaty on violin will perform on the same evening at 8pm.
Agam fame Harish Srivaramakrishnan will take the stage on February 25 at 8pm. Sopana Sangeetham veteran Eloor Biju will perform at 6.30pm on February 26.
A special performance will take place on February 26, by Vayalar Ramavarma Samskarika Vedi at 10pm. The performance will be a tribute to the legendary music composer on the occasion of his 50th death anniversary this year.
The following day, on February 27, veteran musicians Shankaran Namboodiri and Unni Menon and their group will perform at 6pm and 8pm, respectively. Mohiniyattam maestro Neena Prasad will present her recital at 11pm on the same day.
Singing sensation Arya Dhayal and team will be present on February 28 at 10pm.
Rajesh Vaidya, Rajesh Cherthala and Veda Mithra present their instrumental fusion on March 1, the same day Anoop Shankar will perform with his music band ‘Experience’ at 10 pm. Local Bharatanatyam veteran Uma Govind will perform on March 2 at 10 pm.
“While earlier, we used to get applications for performances from local artists, now there are applications from those across India and even from abroad. We scrutinise requests from artists based on their applications,” says Shobha, claiming such scrutiny deems a considerable artistic credibility for the performances.
Latha Ramachandran, founder of Gayatri School of Dance, has been taking her students to the festival for three decades now, and has sensed a change in the way it is organised.
“The change is very palpable. Earlier, the stage was small, and there was not much rush. But now, the number of programmes has increased and so has the duration. This year, Thiruvathira and other performances are slotted for the morning hours, and classical dance and music are kept for the evening,” Latha informs.
The performance lineup has a smattering of lesser-seen art forms like Seetangan Thullal, the once-a-rage Kathaprasangam, and Mizhavuvelam.
“The expansion plans of the festival art scene, thus, could aim to be qualitative, focusing more on native arts of Kerala. When it comes to festivals, culture always means crowd-pullers like Bharatanatyam or Mohiniyattam even now,” says Syam Dev, a Carnatic musician and guru.Programme committees should include native art forms in the temple festivals, he adds. “The art traditions, especially ‘kshetrakalakal’, could get a push that way.”