Chennai: The 14th edition of Chennaiyil Thiruvaiyaru, the annual music festival organised by Lakshman Sruthi Musicals, will take place between 18 and 25 December. The festival is also known among rasikas for providing a platform for budding artistes in the country.
Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami will be inaugurating the festival 18 December and thavil maestro A K Palanivel will receive the ‘Isaiyazhwar’ award from the Chief Minister.
While December in other countries stand for the season of winter, for us Chennaiites it is synonymous with Carnatic music, Bharatanatyam, drama and discourses.
This season, eight sessions comprising Carnatic music, instrumental, dance performance, Harikatha and discourses will be conducted at Kamarajar Arangam for Chennaiyil Thiruvaiyaru.
Addressing a press conference this morning, classical singer Nithyashree Mahadevan said, “In the digital world that we are living in now, listening to music is just a click away any time, anywhere. In such a time, making them attend a live kutcheri has become quite a task, but Lakshman Sruthi troupe has been consistent in organising the festival that garners several thousands of audience. The enthusiasm that we get from the spectators in a live event gives so much joy to artistes that cannot be experienced elsewhere.”
“During the initial two seasons of the music festival, only 20,000 people attended. But as years passed, several people began admiring our Carnatic art forms and now we witness up to one lakh audience every year,” said Lakshman, one of the organisers.
The current edition also features renowned north Indian artists Kaushiki Chakraborti and Rashid Khan. For the first time, to honour classical artistes, the festival also witnesses ‘Classical Star Award Ceremony’.
In addition, in memory of popular music director M S Viswanathan, a wax statue will be unveiled by actress Saroja Devi.
Musicians Unni Krishnan, Rajesh Vaidya, Shobha Chandrasekar, Deepika, Saindhavi, Accord Metropolitan finance director Thiyagarajan, Zee TV executive vice-president and cluster head – south, Siju Prabhakaran, were were present during the media conference.