A medley of cultural programmes

Nirantaram, a music and dance festival that is going on in the City, is giving the music and dance-lovers some delightful programmes to look forward to.

Conducted by Sangeetha Sambhrama, a fine arts institution in the City, the third day of the programme saw a packed house at Seva Sadan.

Featuring a dance ballet by Suparna Venkatesh and a vocal recital concert by the ‘Trichur Brothers’, the hall was full with a lot of people even standing out to get a glimpse of the performances.

After the formal talks for the evening, it was time for Suparna, the director of Sai Arts International, to take the stage.

Titled Mahashakthi, Suparna’s performance was all about women power and depicted four different characters — the four most powerful goddesses — Kali, Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati. There were four sutradhars narrating the story and adding to the beauty of the performance.

Post this brilliant presentation, was time for yet another awesome performance.
But this time, it was not a dance but a music show by ‘Trichur Brothers’ —  Krishna Mohan and Ramkumar Mohan. They were accompanied by C N Chandrashekhar on the violin, Trichur R Mohan on mridangam and S V Balakrishna on morching. Starting with the beautiful Khamach Daru Varnam, the two moved on to present the eternal favourite Maha Ganapathim.

Later, the duo presented Veenamani Vamsha and a Ragam Thalam Pallavi in Desh Raga. Over all, it was a fabulous performance that left the crowd in awe of the performers.

P Ramaa, the founder of Sangeetha Sambhrama, was delighted at the response. “The main aim of the festival is to promote music and dance. So we thought of presenting an array of musical and dance events that both the young and old would enjoy,” she said.

Said Srinath, another organiser, “This is the third edition of the festival and we have several unique features. There is a music and a dance event every day. On one of the days, there was a performance by some talented physically and mentally handicapped children as we wanted to provide a platform to them.”

The auditorium remained packed till the end. Padmini, a homemaker, was amazed at the performances.

“All the performances were so colourful. I was just not able to take my eyes off the stage. Be it the choice of instruments or songs or characterisation, everything was just fantastic. The dance depicting stree shakti gave me goosebumps and I felt Suparna ma’am did a wonderful job,” she said.

“The ‘Trichur Brothers’ are so young but so talented. They had put in so much of effort to render such an amazing performance. The organisers have really done a great job and I think people should really take interest and attend these shows.”

The festival will be on till January 10. On the last day of the festival, the Sambhrama Puraskar will be awarded to renowned bharatanatyam dancer Prathibha Prahalad. There will also be a vocal concert by T M Krishna. All the events are being held at the Chowdiah Memorial Hall. For details, call 23362525.