Music festival – “Nishagandhi Monsoon Ragas” kick-started in Thiruvananthapuram


Thiruvananthapuram: ‘Nishagandhi Monsoon Ragas’, the second-edition of the annual five-day music festival, being organized by Kerala Tourism, was inaugurated by Governor P Sathasivam on July 20; 2019 at 6:15pm at Kanakakunnu Palace in Thiruvananthapuram. The Governor suggested the conduct of such festivals in other cities of the state as well.

Lauding the pivotal role of tourism, Sathasivam said, “Our unity in diversity helped us make a strong comeback from the devastating floods and other natural disasters. Tourism has proved its unique character in adverse situations too.”

Eminent classical musicians Padma Parassala B Ponnammal and Padma Bhushan Dr. T V Gopalakrishnan were selected for the inaugural Nishagandhi Sangeetha Puraskaram, instituted by Kerala Tourism to honour artists who have made outstanding contributions to music.The honour carries Rs 1.5 lakh, citation and memento.

The music festival promises a rare treat of classical and ethnic musical traditions of the subcontinent, featuring both vocalists and instrumentalists of various streams.

The festival commenced on a nature-friendly note with Bamboo Symphony by Unnikrishna Pakkanar followed by a concert by Chitravina N Ravikiran. The venue would reverberate in the following days with performances of leading singers like ghazal mastero, Jaswinder Singh.

Tourism minister Kadakampally Surendran, elaborated on the tourism projects being planned across the state.

“The Travencore Heritage Project is about to kickstart this year. The Vellar Craft Village will be dedicated to the public soon,” he said.

“The Chala Heritage Street project, which costs around Rs 10 crore, will spruce up the city. Raja Kesavadasan statue will be erected at Aryasala junction in the city,” the Minister said.

The artists to feature at the festival are violinist Krishnaa Ajith and the Carnatic Vocalist Vidushi S. Sowmya on July 22nd; Carnatic Vocalist AnanthaSai A.S and Grammy Award Winner Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt (Mohana veena) and Samrat Pandit Salil Bhatt (Satwik Veena) in a duet on July 23rd. Contemporary Flute Fusion by Rajesh Cherthala and a Classical Fusion Band performance by “Shiva-The Musical Thunder”, lead by Usthad Rafiq Khan (Sitar)on July 24th will mark the end of this year’s Nishagandhi Monsoon Ragaas Music Festival.

Minister for Tourism, Co-operation and Devaswom Kadakampally Surendran presided over the function. The inaugural session of the festival was attended by Dr Shashi Tharoor MP, V K Prasanth, Mayor Thiruvananthapuram, Rani George IAS, Tourism Secretary, P Bala Kiran IAS, Tourism Director, Palayam Rajan, Councillor, Thiruvananthapuram Corporation and V K Madhu; President District Panchayat.

Source: PTI


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