Date:10/07/2009 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/fr/2009/07/10/stories/2009071051180300.htm

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Lyrical homage

The Neelakanta Sivan Sangeetha Aradhana begins on July 12.

The 34th Neelakanta Sivan Sangeetha Aradhana begins in Thiruvanathapuram on July 12 with a Carnatic vocal concert by T.M. Krishna. The next seven days feature Sangeetha Sivakumar (July 13), Sikkil Malachandrasekhar (flute, July 14), Changnassery Madhavan Namboothiri (July 15), Abishek Reghuram (July 16), Udayalloor Kalyanaraman (Sampradaya bhajans, July 17), Prasanna Venkitaraman (July 18), Narmada (violin, July 18) and Sanjay Subrahmanyam (July 19).

The festival is conducted by Sree Neelakanta Sivan Sangeetha Sabha, which was founded at Karamana in Thiruvananthapuram on March 24, 1977, in memory of the composer Neelakanta Sivan who is said to have lived and died in Karamana in the capital city.

Born in 1839 at Vadiveeswaram, a part of Nagercoil in erstwhile Travancore, he grew up within the precincts of Fort Padmanabhapuram.

Although many of his songs have been lost, many of those that remain such as ‘Navasiddhi pettralum’ in Kharaharapriya, ‘Ihaparam tarum’ in Khamas, and ‘Anandanatam aaduvartillai’ in Purvikalyani have found a place in the repertoire of Carnatic musicians.