ViBGYOR – International Short & Documentary Film Festival

ViBGYOR , the International Short & Documentary Film Festival raises the curtain on February 11 Twenty14 at Thrissur, Kerala. The name ViBGYOR signifies the diversity and beauty of the festival  like the seven colors of the rainbow. “Celebrating Identities and diversities” is the tagline of ViBGYOR, the international festival this year.

Some of the events in the Short & Documentary Film Festival include, film screening, meet the directors, mini conferences and south asian conferences, exhibitions, food and craft fair, resistance music and cultural evening and various local social movements. Registrations are required to participate in the festival. There is family pass, delegate pass and student pass which can be registered online. The focus theme of ViBGYOR 2014 is Gender Justice.

For Details, visit, www.vibgyorfilm.org

Stages Set Up For ITFOK 2014

Thrissur, the cultural capital of Kerala is set for the sixth edition of International Theatre Festival of Kerala (ITFOK)2014. The theater festival is inaugurated on 27 January 2014 at 06.00pm at Actor Murali Outdoor Theatre, Thrissur. The outdoor theatre was recently inaugurated in the name of Late actor and theatre person Murali, by Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Academy. The theatre festival will take place in several venues at Thrissur till February 03 2014.

Inauguration – G Sankara Pillai Cultural Complex

Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Academy is an autonomous body supported by Govt. of Kerala to promote Art and Culture of Kerala . The academy is headquartered at Thrissur, the cultural capital of Kerala and is headed by Mr. Soorya Krishna Moorthy. G Sankara Pillai Cultural Complex, the latest chapter by Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Academy dedicated to art and artists of Kerala was inaugurated on 18 January 2014 at Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Academy, Thrissur. The cultural complex has eleven stages of different volume and capacity named in memory of the legendary artists of Kerala.

Actor Murali Outdoor Theatre

The Art of Pottery

Most villages in Kerala have a community of potters called Kumbhara colony or manpathra nirmana community. In villages of Palakkad district, there are such colonies . The pottery is a skill and art which depicts the tradition and culture of Kerala. Because of the lower profit and high effort, today many of the youngsters are not coming up in their community for this job. So the art is on its exinct.At Ramassery village in Palakkad, there is such a community of potters who are still active. The village of Ramassery is famous for its Ramassery idly, a special preparation from this village.

The potter usually makes his pottery using clay collected from their nearby places or from where it is available. The raw clay is smoothened and made dough with water using hand. It is then placed in a pottery wheel, a wheel used to mold up the pottery urns to various shapes and size. With their hand and the pottery wheel, the clay clay turns into useful and beautiful pottery. The whole process is so amazing to see. After making a pot in this way, it is separated from the wheel using a thin stick. The next step is to harden the clay by placing it in a kiln for baking. They are kept for two – three days for hardening. The fully completed pots are sold directly or through shops.

International Vedic Workshop - A report.

The 6th International Vedic workshop which was conducted at Kozhikode, Kerala from 07th January 2014 concluded on 10th of the month. The event provided a platform for the get-together of Indologists who were interested in the study of Vedas, the Sanskrit texts. The workshop focused on the rituals and the texts of Vedas. Many scholars in the field of Vedas attended the event.

This year the episode of Vedic workshop provided an opportunity for the participants to see the Vedic chanting and other ritual demonstrations. The Vedic chanters from the School of Rigveda, Yajurveda and Samaveda, the samhithas of veda, from the state of Kerala came here at Kozhikode, for demonstrations and discussions.

Post by Welcome Kerala Magazine.

Koodiyattam, the Sanskrit Drama

Thrissur peruma, a programme organized by tourism department Kerala showcased Koodiyattam or Kudiyattam, the Sanskrit dance drama. Koodiyattam, the hundreds of year old classical dance form, was presented by Ammannur Gurukulam (Ammannur Chachu Chakyar Smaraka Gurukulam) from Irinjalakkuda, Thrissur District in Kerala.

The Storyboard

The Koodiyattam presentation was based on the story of Jadayu (Jatayu) Vadham. Jatayu, the vulture who was good at heart and who fought against injustice is a important character in Ramayana, the age old epic. According to the story, Sita, the wife of Rama, was kidnapped by the asura king Ravana. Jadayu to rescue Sita, fought against Ravana on their way to Lanka (Now called Srilanka), the kingdom of the asura king. The bird was severely wounded in the fight. But before death, he could give vital information to Rama and his brother Lakshmana to reach Sita.

IGNITE! Festival of Contemporary Dance 2015 – Inviting applications

IGNITE! festival of contemporary dance, a biennial, has invited application for the next session of dance festival. The last date for submitting the application is 20^th April 2014. The IGNITE! festival is conducted by The Gati Dance Forum at New Delhi with an aim to develop and encourage the contemporary dance in India. The one week long programme includes discussions, seminars, performances etc. on contemporary dance styles. The dance choreographers from within and outside India are invited to attend the festival to showcase their art forms. The third edition of the IGNITE! festival of contemporary dance is scheduled to be conducted on  February 2015.

The Gati Dance Forum which started functioning in 2007, is an organization that promotes contemporary dance in India. It provides opportunities for upcoming artists to know and experience the dance form in depth. The forum supports the innovations and various experimentation on existing dance forms of India. They provide enough resources for the growth of dancers.

For Details: http://www.gatidance.com/

Photo courtesy: http://www.ignitedancefestival.com

A Colorful Start for Thrissur Peruma

Thrissur peruma, a week long programme organized by Kerala tourism department to uplift and explore the culture and heritage of Thrissur started its first event on 08th January 2014. The tourism department has organized a schedule for each day to the tourists and participants of the first. The inaugural ceremony took place at Thekkinkadu Maidanam, the Vadakkumnathan temple ground of Thrissur. The colorful event was inaugurated by tourism minister of Kerala Shri. Anil Kumar. Followed by the inauguration, there was Thayambaka, by percussion instruments and which is an essential part in a temple festival. Pulikkali, the dance of tigers, which has a trademark of Thrissur, was organized on the same day.

Elephants lined up for Pooram.

The tourism department has tried to make the second day more colorful with a Mini Pooram, that resembles the original Thrissur Pooram, but in a capsule form.

Swathi Sangeetholsavam, Thiruvananthapuarm.

Swathi Sangeetholsavam began at the capital city of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuarm. The festival concludes on 13th of January.  The 10day Swathi Music festival, in tribute to Maharaja of Travancore, Swathi Tirunal is conducting at Kuthiramalika Palace, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala from 04 January 2014.

Date/ Time: 04 to 13 January 2014;06.00pm
Venue: Kuthiramalika Palace, East Fort, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.

8-1-2014(Wednesday):  Prof Venkataramanan - Vocal
                                   Sri Sampath - Violin
                                   Dr G.Babu - Mridangam
                                   Manjoor Sri Unnikrishnan - Ghatam

9-1-2014(Thursday):    Sri T.V.Gopalakrishnan - Vocal
                                  Sri S.Varadarajan - Violin
                                  Palghat Sri Maheshkumar - Mridangam
                                  Tirupunutura Sri Radhakrishnan - Ghatam

10-1-2014(Friday)      Sri S.Varadarajan - Violin Solo
                                Sri T.V.Gopalakrishnan - Mridangam
                                Tirupunitura Sri Radhakrishnan - Ghatam

11-1-2014 (Saturday) Sri Saurabh Kadgaonkar - Hindustani Vocal
                                Sri Arvind Kadgaonkar - Tabla
                                Sri Rohan Mahekar - Harmonium

Mohiniyattam / Mohiniattam, the dance of enchantress

Mohiniyattam, the graceful performing art of Kerala has a history of more than 100years. The dance form became more popular during the rule of Maharaja Swathi Thirunal in Travancore (now known as Thiruvananthapuram). Mohiniyattam or Mohiniattam the classical art form from Kerala is recognized as one among the eight Indian classical dance forms by Sangeetha nataka academy.  

The dance form has different mythologies connected to its origin, all focused on Lord Vishnu. According to myths, Lord Vishnu appeared as Mohini, the enchantress. In ancient days, mohiniyattam was practiced by Devadasis, the women wholly dedicated to God. The great Malayalam poet, Shri Vallathol Narayana Menon, gave a face lift to the art form through his institution the Kerala Kalamandalam. Smt. Kalamandalam Kalyanikutty Amma,

Utsavam, the temple festival.

The temple festivals in Kerala called utsavam,is an important part of Kerala tradition. The festival is a event of gathering for the localites in and around the temple. The utsavams of Kerala are colorful and attracts a huge crowd. Usually they are conducted in connection with a myth related to the temple deity. In most temples, the celebration lasts for a week or a month. Special poojas, the tantric ritual, will be conducted all the days. Offerings are done by the devotees for satisfying the deity.

Elephants, fireworks and oracle are the key elements for most of the festivals. Usually, more than one elephant decorated beautifully with a head covering called nettipattam line up for the procession. The utsavams held during night will have fire lamps called pantham carried by one or more people. Fireworks are unavoidable part of temple festivals. Colorful fireworks are displayed in the night of festive days. The performance of oracle, as a part of ritual is believed to please the Goddess of the temple. The oracle, possessed by the Goddess in a red attire, carry a sword in the hand and bless the devotees gathered there.

The Thiruvambadi temple of Thrissur district in Kerala is celebrated its utsavam, locally called pattu utsavam in the first week of January 2014. The festival attracted a large number of people from within and outside the district. The main deity of the temple is Lord Krishna. The Godess bagavathy , Lord Dharmasastha, Lord Ganapathy etc. are the other sub deities. The Thiruvambadi temple play an inevitable role in Thrissur pooram, called the pooram of all poorams. The Thrissur pooram is one of the important temple festivals of Kerala and is known globally.