Date:27/12/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/12/27/stories/2008122751130200.htm

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Reverberating with rapture

Staff Reporter

Dances from Orissa, Rajasthan also to be presented

— Photo: B. Jothi Ramalingam

grand START: Tourism Minister N. Suresh Rajan beats a drum to signal the inauguration of the month-long Indian Dance Festival at Mamallapuram on Thursday.

CHENNAI: Silambaattam, kolattam, poikkaal kudhirai, karagaattam, Thiruvasagam and Thiruppavai on Thursday converged at the ‘Thamizh Pannpaattu Sangamam,’ a celebration of the martial arts, dances and songs of Tamil Nadu.

The event marked the inauguration of the month-long Indian Dance Festival 2009 at Mamallapuram. With the magnificent stone carving ‘Arjuna’s Penance’ as the backdrop, artists and musicians enthralled the audience, which included many foreign tourists, besides those from other parts of the country.

The show was coordinated by music director Bharadwaj.

The 90-minute long cultural extravaganza got off to a start with a Thamizh Thai vaazhthu presented by Bharathanatyam dancers, who danced in praise of the Goddess of Tamil.

The star of the silambattam group was a tiny tot who was able to wield the ‘surul kaththi’ and ‘kambu’ with élan. The performance by the poikkaal kudhirai artists was well received by the audience, many of whom cheered and clapped in appreciation.

Tony, a tourist from Israel, said, “I enjoyed the show very much, especially the dance by the women (kolattam).” Manoj Yadav from Bhopal, who had come to see the beauty of the rock sculptures of the town, said that he was thrilled to see martial arts being performed to music.

Tourism Minister N. Suresh Rajan, who inaugurated the show, said that this was the first time that folk dance forms from various parts of India were included in the programme.

Chief Secretary K.S. Sripathi, Tourism Secretary V. Irai Anbu, Commissioner of Tourism M. Rajaram, and Kancheepuram Collector Santosh K. Misra were present.

The programmes at the festival will go on till January 25 and will begin every evening at 6 p.m.

Artists from Orissa, Rajasthan, Manipur, Assam, Jharkhand, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland will present their traditional dances.