Last Days of Home Shopping Festival 2013

Parpidam - Home Shopping Festival

Home Furnishing & Building Expo is here. Furniture, furnishings, interior decoration products are on display bringing together builders and designers together on the same platform. The expo has been moving across cities in Kerala and there are two dates and venues where you can see it:

March 2-4, 2013 in Trichur

March 9-11, 2013 in Kochi

A Rare Kathakali Performance

One of the last surviving artistes of Kapplingadu school of Kathakali, veteran MadavoorVasudevan Nair (82) is set to perform Dasamukharavanan, a rare attakkata, Kathakali dance music composition using soliloquys in Sanskrit meter. 

Dasamukharavanan derives from the epic Ramayan. It depicts Ravan’s state of mind on losing to Rama to the point that he prays to Lord Shiva to take his life. Rama, sparing his life advises him to rest so that they can take to the battlefield once more and fulfil their dharma as warriors. Dasamukha means 10 faces that showcase Ravan’s conflicting emotions as he battles his inner demons. The 10 faces correspond to the traditional 9 Rasas or emotions which now the Gen Next may know as emoticons. 

Sadanam Krishnan Kutty and Kalamandalam Ramachandranunnithan will also perform Balivadham. 

It narrates how Rama kills Sugreeva’s brother Bali in return for Sugreeva’s help in battling Ravan.

The performances are in memory of Kalamandalam Krishnankutty Poduval,  the maestro of Kathakali percussion, the chenda, on his 88^th birth anniversary.

Venue – Rohini Kalyana Mandapam, Guruvayoor

Time – 6 pm

Date – 28 May 2012

Contact – Rajan Poduval 9282449995/kalasagar@gmail.com

Getting to Guruvayoor

Take a bus from Thrissur or Palakkad

Take a Southern Railway train Thrissur to Guruvayoor, the last station on the route

Take a plane to Kochi and take a connecting bus, train

A Dance Festival of Women - Nangiar Koothu

Koodiyattam performed traditionally by the Chakyars spawned the Nangiar Koothu that could be peformed only by the Chakyar’s wife, the Nangiar or Nangyaramma. Now there are no such caste restrictions but the tradition of gender remains.

The Nangiar Koothu performed solely by women depicts  the Sree Krishna Charitram or the life of Krishna to the music of the copper drum (mizhavu)

Gurusmarana Nangiar Koothu Festival will present 9 renowned exponents of Nangiar Koothu as a tribute to mark the 3^rd death anniversary of Kuttiyatam master Guru Moozhikkulam Kochu Kuttan Chakyar

Date – May 13 – 21

Venue – Nephatya, Moozhikkulam, Aluva, Thrissur

Contact – 484 247 0106

Schedule – Performances at 6:30 pm

At Nephatya’s Koothambalam (temple theatre)

May 13 – Sree Krishna Charitram – Part 1 by Nepathya Anjana

May 14 – Ugrasenabandhanam by Kalamandalam Sangeetha

May 15 – Krishnavatharam by Nithya Nangiar

May 16 – Poothanamoksham by Sarita Krishnakumar

May 17 – Nilaparinayam by Dr. Indu G.

May 18 – Kaliyamardanam by Kapila Venu

May 19 – Govardhanodharanam by Kalamandalam, Girija

May 20 – Akrooragamanam by Usha Nambiar

May 21 – Kamsavadham by Kalamandalam Sindhu

A Festival Like No Other

Thrissur Pooram

Thrissur is the district in Kerala. Pooram is Malayalam for the celestial star in the Hindu almanac. Thrissur Pooram is therefore an auspicious time for the religious festival centred around Vadakummanathan Temple, set on a hillock overlooking the city centre which covers 9 acres

Vadakummanathan Temple

Vadakummanathan is the shrine dedicated to Shiva, the destroyer in the Hindu Trinity, the others being Brahma, the Creator and Vishnu, the Preserver.

The other two shrines in the Temple are dedicated to Shankarnarayana and Rama

Thrissur Pooram Festival

It was begun about 200 years ago by the then Kochi king Raja Rama Varma. In keeping with his legendary name Sakthan Tampuran which means one who holds firm the reins in his hands, the king at one stroke broke the stranglehold of the traditional priest community, the Namboodiri on temple rituals. How did he pull it off? He did it by throwing open the Vadakummanathan temple to all people regardless of their caste which created a tremendous groundswell of public support. Then he invited all the 10 temples in the area to join in thus ensuring strength in unity and ensuring that the rest of the neighbourhood did not feel slighted. Then to get the common folks to feel a part of the event, he divided the 10 temples into 5 each of the West and East. To distinguish this Pooram from the traditional long winded rituals spread over many days, the king himself drew up the frenzied pace of the festival. It unfolds over 36 hours in a dawn to dawn ritual.

The Spectacle

The 10 temples send their deities on beautifully caparisoned elephants to pay obeisance to Shiva, the reigning deity of Vadakummanathan. Each group attempts to outdo the other in decorating their 15 elephants with beautiful parasols (umbrellas). 

The Surround Sound

The elephants sway along to the music of Panchvadyam (5 percussion and wind instruments). This has 200 artistes creating music from Thimila and Idakka (hour glass shaped drums), cymbals, drums like the Maddalam and trumpets. Chenda Melan and Pandimelam musical ensembles also add to the beat. The former is a drum ensemble preceding like an announcement the main Pandimelan. The Pandimelan comprises almost 200 musicians playing drums, trumpets, pipes and cymbals. There’s a drum concert as well - the Elanjithara Melan.

The Grand Finale

And it all ends in a fantastic display of fireworks, each group trying to show the most spectacular and colourful firecrackers over 3 hours beginning at 2:30 am to 3 am at dawn and continuing till 6 am.

Be There

Tentative Date – May 1^{st to}  2^nd , 2012

Venue

Vadakummanathan Temple

Near Thekkinkadu Maidan (Ground)

Thrissur

Call – 0487 - 2426040

Get There

Kochi is the nearest city – 79 km

Take a flight or train