Trichy experiences vibrant musical fest

TRICHY: 'Svanubhava', a two-day cultural movement, inspired students in and around Trichy with a host of celebrated artists performing at the Shrimathi Indira Gandhi College on Friday and Saturday. The movement has also identified about 25 Indian performing arts to be given a vibrant boost.
Though T M Krishna, the brain behind the concept, was looking at cities like Bangalore, Thiruvanathapuram, and Mumbai after conducting the event successfully in Chennai and New Delhi, the 2012 Svanubhava came to Trichy, much to the delight of local students.
With the traditional blend of music, dance and theatre, the festival unfolded on the banks of the river Cauvery with a 'mangala isai' by students of the Tamil Nadu Government Music School, Trichy. If the idea was to inspire and share, then it was executed with finesse by Vishaka Hari through a 'Harikatha Kalakshepam'. What made the musical event unique was the fact that every event was followed by an interaction with the artist who graciously answered questions from the audience. Vishaka told students that one of the requisites to become a Harikatha exponent would be that the aspirant must master at least five different languages.
On Friday, a traditional folk theatre performance (Theru Koothu) by Purisai Kannappa Tambiran Paramparai Therukoothu Manram was a huge hit with the students. Later, a carnatic flute concert by S Shashank, accompanied by Akkarai S Subhalakshmi on violin and Patri Satishkumar on mridangam won many laurels. After the hour-long performance, Shashank explained to students how the metallic western flute was much different from the carnatic. In the next Talavadyam concert, Vikku T H Vinayakaram and group created surreal magic playing different notes on four clay pots.
Saturday began with a carnatic vocal concert by N Vijay Siva, R K Shriramkumar, Mannargudi A Easwaran and K V Gopalakirshnan, as well as a 'karagam' performance by students of the Shrimathi Indira Gandhi College. The Odhuvar Thevaram (Shaivite hymns) was performed by Kudandai Lakshmanan and Dharmapuram Nyanaprakasam, followed by a bharatanatyam performance by Priyadarshini Govind. Crazy Mohan and group brought up the rear in the order of performances.
Ganapathy Subramaniam, the coordinator for the event said the college had a long term vision of creating hubs of students, proficient in various performing arts. District collector Jayashree Muralidharan told students that art must be imbibed at a young age and cultural movements like these should be conducted more often.