Kalamandalam anniversary celebrations begins

The anniversary celebrations of the Kerala Kalamandalam and the birthday celebrations of poet Vallathol began at the koothambalam of the Kalamandalam here on Thursday.

The two-day celebration is packed with a variety of cultural programmes, including kompupattu, thayambaka, mohiniyattam, bharatanatyam, poetry concert, tabla performance, nangiarkoothu, kuchipudi, keralanatanam and kathakali.

The anniversary celebrations began with Kalamandalam executive board member Vasanthi Menon hoisting the flag in the morning. The cultural fiesta started off with a kompupattu performance by Odakkali Murali and party.

This was followed by a symposium on ‘innovative presentation in traditional dance forms’. Bharatanatyam exponent Priyadarshini Govind inaugurated the symposium. Rajashree Warrier presented the topic in the symposium. Kalamandalam Leelamma, C N Rajalakshmi, P M Pushpalatha, P Sujatha, K P Uma and P S Lathika took part in the discussion.

In the evening, percussion artist Iringapuram Babu and team staged a thayambaka performance which enthralled the audience. This was followed by the Mukunda Raja remembrance meet, which was inaugurated by V S Sharma.

Kalamandalam executive board member Mankulam Krishnan Namboothiri, presided over the function. Chowalloor Krishnankutty delivered the commemorative talk at the function.

Kalamandalam Vice-Chancellor P N Suresh gave away the endowment awards instituted for students. Kalamandalam Sathyabhama and S Gopakumar spoke. Vasanthi Menon welcomed the gathering and Anurag proposed a vote of thanks.

This was followed by a mohiniyattam performance by Kalamandalam Hymavathi and party. A bharathanatyam performance by Priyadarshini Govind, Chennai, and a musical concert by Ramakrishnamoorthi were the last performances of the day.

The highlight of the second day is a tabla concert by Shaheel P Nasar and a nangiarkoothu performance by Kalamandalam Shylaja. In the morning, Anil Vallathol will deliver the Vallathol commemorative talk after paying floral tributes at the Smrithimandapam.

This would be followed by the Kavyarchana programme, to be inaugurated by lyricist Yusafali Kechery.

In the evening, Cultural Affairs Minister K C Joseph will inaugurate the anniversary meeting, which would be presided over by K Radhakrishnan MLA. Kalamandalam fellowships and awards will be presented at the function.

This will be followed by a kuchipudi performance by Arathi Sudhakaran and party, keralanatanam performance by Natysree Vinaya Chandran, and a kathakali performance by Kalamandalam artists and fellowship winners.