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.