Vivid programmes for art lovers

The festival earlier held the record of being the ‘longest duration run cultural programme’ for having run for 111 days. But this time, it’s all set to break its own record as it’s being held across the country for 365 days.

Day one of the festival saw a formal opening ceremony that was graced by the presence of Surya Prasad, music and dance critic, and skilled dancer Manju Bhargavi. The first performance at the festival was by well-known bharatanatyam artiste Rama Vaidhyanathan from New Delhi.

“Soorya Krishnamurthy is a great friend of mine and Manju Bhargavi was telling me that he is a machine. I agree with her because how else can one organise a year-long festival,” asked Surya Prasad.

Added Manju Bhargavi, “Soorya Krishnamurthy’s energy is commendable and I just pray he goes on and on to provide a platform for budding artistes. Also, Rama Vaidhyanathan is a beautiful dancer and I am a huge fan of hers. She is so energetic and passes the energy on to the audience.”

 Having performed in the City many times before, Rama expressed her delight in performing here again. “The City’s crowd is so well-versed with arts and understands bharatnatyam so well. I am extremely happy to be performing for the ‘Soorya Festival’ as it is a great initiative and provides platform for a lot of budding talents,” she told Metrolife. Starting with Sanvidhanam, depicting the precision and symmetry of Hindu temples and goddesses, Rama went on to presented four more beautiful pieces during the course of the evening.

Ramesh Narayan delighted the audiences with his Hindustani vocal performance on Friday. The festival will go on till September 20 with a bharatanatyam performance by Savita Shastri from Delhi on September 17. ‘Midhilalaya’ from Trivandrum will be performing ‘Ramayanam Ballet’ on September 18.

On September 19, Nrithyagram, an odissi group, will take the stage while popular Carnatic singer Sanjay Subramanium will present a concert on September 20. The venue for all the shows is Seva Sadan, Malleswaram. The shows start at 6.45 pm everyday.