Natyanjali in Chidambaram

Chidambaram is one of those towns that seem to exist just for a special occasion. Natyanjali, a classical dance festival held during Shivaratri, for more than two decades, has been one of the most important, and is a permanent fixture in the State's cultural and tourist calendar.

This year, the Natyanjali fest in Chidambaram celebrates its silver jubilee and so, all the leading dancers in India and some from abroad, are scheduled to perform on the open air stage inside the temple precincts.

The fest will be held from February 26, 2006 onwards for a week.

26-02-2006 ? Sunday - Maha Sivarathri Day
:: Students of Faculty of Fine Arts, Annamalai University Students of Krishnaraj

Function
:: Students of Sudharani Raghupathy
:: Dr. Sandhya Purecha & Students,
:: Kuchupudi Ratnakumar
:: Dr. Padma Subramaniam
:: Dance Drama by Students of Anita Guha
:: Madhivathani Sudhakaran Students
:: Students of Indra Rajan
:: Chitra Vikram
:: Zahir Hussain
:: Sowmya Gunasekaran
:: Shweta Ravishankar
:: Ildyko Gulyas           <-------------------------------
:: Students of Sudha Vijayakumar
:: Students of Sheela Unnikrishnan

27-02-2006 ? Monday
:: Students of Sri Purandari Dance and Music School, Trichy (Guru : Srividya Sundaresan)Kavitha
:: Students of Sivasakthi Dance School, Chidambaram (Guru : V.N. Kanakambujam)
:: Students of Bharathiar Palkalai Koodam, Pondichery
:: Students of Mudrika School, Bangalore (Guru : Minal Prabhu)
:: Sandeepa Palit and Bijaykumar Sahoo ? Odissi
:: J. Suryanarayanamoorthi
:: Students of Kathak Kendra, New Delhi (Director : Geetanjali Lal)
:: Radha and her students

28-02-2006 ? Tuesday
:: Students of R.S. Bharatha Natyalaya, Chennai (Guru : Parvathy Mohan)
:: Students of Sivakami Natyalaya Chidambaram (Guru : Kalaiyarasi)
:: Students of Bharata Natya Niketan, New Delhi
:: Poorva Dhanshrit, New Delhi
:: C.V. Chandrasekhar
:: Sattriya Dance by Artistes of Sriman Sankardev Kalakshetra, Guwahati, Assam
:: Sonal Mansingh, New Delhi, Odissi
:: Nartaki Nataraj, Thiruvarur

01-03-2006 - Wednesday
:: Ishwarya (Guru : Thanjavur B. Horambanathan)
:: Students of Jaya Aruna Bharatalaya (Guru : Sukashini Chandrasekar)
:: Kirti Ramgopal, Bangalore (Guru : Padmini Ramachandran)
:: Shilpa Uttappa, Bangalore (Guru : Padmini Ramachandran)
:: Mythili Prakash (USA) [Guru : Viji Prakash]
:: Divyasena and her students, Chennai
:: Dr. Neena Prasad and her students.
:: Mayur Bhanj Chaau, Orissa (Guru L.N. Ooss)
:: Revathi Ramachandran, Manasvini and Students of Kala Sadhanalaya)

02-03-2006 ? Thursday
:: Chinnamanur Sisters (Chitra & Sujatha)
:: Pallavi Krishnan, Trisoor ? Mohiniattam
:: Students of Sree Raja Rajeswari Bharata Natya Mandir, Mumbai (Guru : Kalyanasundaram)

Valedictory Function
:: V.P. Dhananjayan & Shanta
:: Radha Nair
:: Sri Ramana Maharishi Academy for Blind, Bangalore
:: Students of Kanakasabha, Dance School, Mumbai.

The town of Chidambaram in Cuddalore district is about 235 kilometres from Madras and takes the best part of six hours in a bus journey. A travel along the newly laid East Coast Road (ECR) is the shortest and by far the smoothest way up to the temple town of Chidambaram. You shouldn't miss the coastal spots like Mahabalipuram and Pondicherry that are on the way. With frequent state transport buses plying between Madras and Pondy, it is a good option to travel upto Pondy and then take a two-hour trip to Chidambaram.

It is better to have your accommodation booked at least a week before Shivaratri. The rooms are much in demand during Natyanjali due to the huge influx of tourists. Some hotels in Chidambaram are Sharadaram (04144-221336) and Akshaya (04144-222181).

The dance programmes start late in the evening and the open air atmosphere would give you some respite from the heat. The huge Nataraja temple built on 40 acres of land is one of the biggest in the country and a dedicated look around would take you at least two to three hours. A local Dikshitar at your side would help in viewing the temple.

The temple's gold plated vimana or the roof and the 108 bharathanatyam mudras sculpted on the pillars are some of the unmissable sights. The temple is open from 6 am until midnight. There is a special all night pooja during Shivaratri when the temple is all lit up with oil lamps and the whole place brims with devotion when the huge bells are sounded at the stroke of midnight.

There are some other beautiful tourist spots within a few kilometres radius from Chidambaram like the mangroves of Pichavaram and the temple towns of Vriddhachalam and Vaitheeswaran Koil.

Dance fest in Thanjavur

The annual Brihannatyanjali dance festival at the Brihadeeswara Temple in Thanjavur will take place on February 26, 27 and 28. Classical dancers from all over India will perform inside the temple, on the platform of the Nandi. On the first evening of the festival, the day of Shivaratri, dances will go on till 2am. On the next two evenings, they will be held from 6.30 pm to about 10.30pm.

This year, the organisers plan to set up light food stalls inside the complex so that visitors can sit through the entire programme. Admission is free.

Dancers who wish to apply to participate in this festival, can write to the Secretary, Brihannatyanjali Foundation, BVR Complex, Arulananda Nagar, Thanjavur-7. Phones - 04362-291 569. Cell phone - 98424-55765. They should do so before Feb.7, 2006.

Natyanjali in Kumbakonam

The annual Natyanjali dance fest held at the Sri Kumbeswarar Temple in Kumbakonam will be held on Feb.25, 26 and 27. Dancers from all over India are expected to perform at this temple, starting on the eve of Shivaratri. The fest is held in the courtyard of this temple and starts at about 6pm. If you wish to apply to perform at this fest you may contact the Secretary, Natyanjali Trust Kumbakonam, Moopanar Bungalow, Dr. Besant Road, Kumbakonam 612 001. Phone - 243 0804/ 2442396. E-mail-natyanjalikmu@yahoo.co.in

25-02-2006 ? Saturday
:: 6.00 To 6.15 P.M., - Mangala Isai ? Nadaswaram By Nagarajan & Party
:: 6.20 To 6.45 P.M., - Students of Geetha Ashok ? Bharatanatyam
:: 6.50 To 7.15 P.M., - D. Aishwarya ? Chennai - Bharatanatyam
:: 7.20 To 7.50 P.M., - Inaugural Function
:: 7.55 To 8.40 P.M., - Anitha Ratnam ? Chennai-Bharatanatyam
:: 8.45 To 9.10 P.M., - Udumalai Senthil ? Bharatanatyam
:: 9.15 To 10.00 P.M., - Kathak Kendra-New Delhi - Sponsored By Sangeeta Natak Academy - New Delhi
:: 10.05 To 10.30 P.M., - Varsh Ramesh ?Neyveli - Bharatanatyam
:: 10.35 To 11.00 P.M.,- Uthra Ramesh ?Chennai - Bharatanatyam
:: 11.05 To 11.30 P.M.,- Students of Kalakshetra - Chennai - Bharatanatyam
:: 11.35 To 12.00 P.M., - Tara Raman ? Chennai - Bharatanatyam
:: 12.05 To 12.30 P.M., - Rathna Kumar - [USA] - Kuchipidi
:: 12.35 To 1.00 P.M., - .Radha ? Bharatanatyam

26-02-2006 ? Sunday
:: 6.00 To 6.15 P.M., - Mangala Isai
:: 6.20 To 6.45 P.M., - Students of Sarojini ? Bharatanatyam
:: 6.50 To 7.10 P.M., - Students of Siva Sakthi Dance School - Kumbakonam - Bharatanatyam
:: 7.15 To 7.35 P.M., - Students of Asian Natyalaya - Kumbakonam - Bharatanatyam
:: 7.40 To 8.05 P.M. ? P.D.Sujeeth-Erode - Bharatanatyam
:: 8.10 To 8.35 P.M., - Sepuri Hari Kripa ? Neyveli - Bharatanatyam
:: 8.40 To 9.05 P.M., - Siva Sakthi Abhinaya Natyalaya-Chennai - Bharatanatyam
:: 9.10 To 9.35 P.M., - Siva Sakthi Dance School - Chidambaram - Bharatanatyam
:: 9.40 To 10.25 P.M., - Students Of Sriman Sankar Dev Kalakshetra - Panjabari ? Guwahati ? Assam ? Sattriya ? Sponsored By Sangeetha Natak Academy- New Delhi
:: 11.05 To 11.30 P.M.,- Students of Kalakshetra - Chennai - Bharatanatyam
:: 11.35 To 12.00 P.M., - Tara Raman ? Chennai-Bharatanatyam
:: 12.05 12.30 P.M., - Rathna Kumar - [USA] - Kuchipidi
:: 12.35 To 1.00 P.M., - .Radha ? Bharatanatyam

27-02-2006 ? Monday
:: 6.00 To 6.15 P.M., - Mangala Isai
:: 6.20 To 6.45 P.M., - Prathiba ?Kumbakonam- Bharatanatyam
:: 6.50 To 7.15 P.M., - Mythili Prakash ?Usa- Bharatanatyam
:: 7.20 To 7.45 P.M., - Nithya Venkateswaran ?Chennai-Bharatanatyam
:: 7.50 To 8.15 P.M., - Students of Sheela Unnikrishnan-Chennai-Bharatanatyam
:: 8.20 To 8.45 P.M., - Revathy Ramachandran & Party-Chennai-Bharatanatyam
:: 8.50 To 9.30 P.M., - Cine Fame Jaya Bharathi ?Chennai- Bharatanatyam.
:: 9.35 To 10.20 P.M., - Padmabushan Dr. Padma Subramaniam ?Bharatanatyam.
:: 10.25 To 11.10 P.M.,- Students of Chaau Kendra-Mayurbhanj-Orissa-Chaau- Sponsored By Sangeetha Natak Academy, New Delhi
:: 11.15 To 11.40 P.M., - Students of Kanaka Sabha Arts Centre, Mumbai-Bharatanatyam & Kuchipidi.
:: 11.45 To 12.05 P.M.,- Students of Bharatanatya Niketan-New Delhi
:: 12.10 To 12.35 P.M., - Poorva Dhanasri ?New Delhi-Bharatanatyam.
:: 12.40 To 1.05 A.M., - Deepak Majumdar ? Mumbai- Bharatanatyam.
:: 1.10 To 1.35 A.M., - Swetha Ravishankar ? Mumbai- Bharatanatyam.

Valedictory Function

The Natyanjali fests at Kumbakonam and Chidambaram have taken off from the Natyanjali started 25 years ago at the Chidambaram Sri Nataraja Temple by the Natyanjali Trust.

Click here to read our coverage of the Natyanjali fests in the previous years...

Natyanjali 2004
Natyanjali 2003