Swathi Sangeethotsavam Music Festival

Country and Region	India — Kerala
Type of Festival	Music
Location of Festival	Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India
Festival Address Information	Swathi Sangeethotsavam Music Festival Department of Tourism, Government of Kerala Park View Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India 695 033 Phone: (91) 471-2321132 Fax: (91) 471-2322279 Email: info@keralatourism.org, or deptour@keralatourism.org
Festival Description	The Swathi festival is a gala event of music organised by the Government of Kerala every year in the last week of January. The venue is the famous Kuthiramalika Palace in Thiruvananthapuram, where once upon a time the great poet-king of Travancore, Sri Swathi Thirunal, composed many of his verses. An august gathering of great maestros from all over the country celebrate Indian classical music in all its variety and grandeur.
Festival Dates	January 6 - 13, 2008
Festival Links	http://www.swathithirunal.in/rlinsti/kuthira.htm

Festival Story:

This is a festival started by the Kerala State Government a few years ago, at the Kuthiramalika Palace, built by the great composer Maharaja Swathi Thirunal (1813-1846) over 160 years ago. However, since January 2000 the festival has been organized by the family of the descendants of the Maharaja and since 2003 the dates have been re-adjusted taking into account the feedback from music lovers and artists—will now run for three weeks from January 6 - 12 every year (previously January 27-February 2).

The palace is run as a museum by one of the public charitable trusts settled by the Royal Family of Travancore and the music festival is run by H.H.Sir Rama Varma Maharaja of Travancore Trust again another public charitable trust settled by the late Maharaja Chithira Thirunal Rama Varma (1912-1991). Despite the huge expenses music lovers are able to enjoy the festival for free and to attend these great concerts in an exceptional ambience—truly an unforgettable experience for the audience and the artists alike.

Festival Events:

Program 2008:

January 6, 6:00pm
- Vocal Music—SRI SANJAY SUBRAHMANYAN
  Violin, Sri S. Varadarajan
  Mridangam, Sri Neyveli Venkatesh
  Ghatam, Dr. S. Karthick
  Morsing, Sri Payyannur Govindaprasad
January 7, 6:00pm
- Vocal Music—PRINCE RAMA VARMA
  Violin, Sri S. Varadarajan
  Mridangam, Sri Bangalore Praveen
  Ghatam, Dr. S. Karthick
  Morsing, Sri Payyannur Govindaprasad
January 8, 6:00pm ’
- Vocal Music—MS. MANASI PRASAD & PARTY
January 9, 6:00pm
- Vocal Music—SMT. PARASSALA PONNAMMAL
  Violin, Sri Attukal Balasubramaniam
  Mridangam, Dr. G. Babu
  Ghatam, Sri Adichanallur Anilkumar
January 10, 6:00pm
- Vocal Music, MASTER BALAMURALIKRISHNA
  Violin, Sri. S.R.Vinu
  Mridangam, Sri Balakrishna Kamath
  Ghatam, Sri Manjoor Unnikrishnan
January 11, 6:00pm
- Hindusthani Vocal Music—PROF VENKATESH KUMAR & PARTY
January 12, 5:00pm
- Sangeetha Aradhana (Group Singing) by STUDENTS, DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC, KERALA UNIVERSITY
January 12, 6:00pm
- Violin Duet—SRI LALGUDI G.J.R.KRISHNAN & SMT. LALGUDI VIJAYALAKSHMI
  Mridangam, Sri R. Ramesh
  Ghatam, Sri V. Suresh
January 13, 6:00pm
- “LAKSHADEEPAM” SPECIAL CONCERT
  Vocal Music, Dr. M. BALAMURALIKRISHNA
  Violin, Sri S. R. Mahadeva Sarma
  Mridangam, Sri B. Harikumar
  Ghatam, Sri P.L. Sudheer

Practical Info:

Note to audience:

The concerts are free—but please turn off all mobile phones. Thank you.