The annual Navaratri music festival at Thiruvananthapuram will begin on September 30th at the Navarathrimandapam.

The music for the Navaratri concerts was composed and codified by Swati Tirunal. He has composed nine keerthanas in the ragas Shankarabharanam, Kalyani, Saveri, Thodi, Bhairavi, Panthuvarali, Shuddha Saveri, Nattakurinji and Arabhi respectively, to be sung as the main piece on each day of navaratri. Main concerts begin at 6 p.m. every day preceded by the singing of the ‘Thodayamangalam' by the Mullamoodu. The programme schedule is a follows.

Navarathri Mandapam Concerts 2008
Navarathri Mandapam, Thiruvananthapuram
Thodayamangalam DAILY by Mullamoodu Bhagavathars 5.30pm to 6pm

30 Sep Tuesday, 6pm to 8.30pm
(Main piece: "Devi Jagath Janani" - SANKARABHARANAM)
Vocal       :  Sri T. M. KRISHNA
Violin      :  Sri R. K. Shriramkumar
Mridangam   :  Sri Guruvayur Dorai
Ghatom      :  Sri V. Suresh
                                                     

 

 

 

01 Oct Wednesday, 6pm to 8.30pm  
(Main piece: "Pahimam Sri Vageeswari" - KALYANI)
Vocal        :  Master BALAMURALIKRISHNA
Violin       :  Smt. Padma Sankar
Mridangam    :  Sri Nanjil Arul
Ghatom       :  Sri Manjoor Unnikrishnan
                
                                                       

 

 

02 Oct Thursday, 6pm to 8.30pm
(Main piece: "Devi Pavanae" - SAVERI)
Vocal   :  Prof. Smt. PARASSALA B.PONNAMMAL
Violin       :  Smt Charulatha Ramanujam
Mridangam    :  Sri Mavelikara R. Rajesh
Ghatom       :  Sri Adichanallur Anil Kumar
          
                                                         

 

 

03 Oct Friday, 6pm to 8.30pm                                                            
(Main piece: "Bharathi Mamava" - THODI)
Vocal      :  Sri M.K. SHANKARAN NAMBOODIRI
Violin       :  Sri S. R. Mahadeva Sarma
Mridangam    :  Sri Cherthala S. Dinesh
Kanjira      :  Sri Uduppi S. Srikanth

 

 

 

04 Oct Saturday, 6pm to 8.30pm  
(Main piece: "Janani Mamava" - BHAIRAVI)
Vocal        :  Prof. T.V. GOPALAKRISHNAN
Violin       :  Sri S. Varadarajan
Mridangam    :  Sri T.V.Vasan

 

 

 

 

05 Oct Sunday, 6pm to 8.30pm
(Main piece: "Saroruhasana" -  PANTUVARALI)
Vocal        :  PRINCE RAMA VARMA
Violin       :  Sri S. Varadarajan
Mridangam    :  Sri B. Harikumar
Ghatom       :  Dr. S. Karthick
Morsing      :  Sri Payyannur Govindaprasad
    

 

 

06 Oct Monday, 6pm to 8.30pm  
(Main piece: "Janani Pahi" - SHUDDHASAVERI)
Vocal        :  Sri TRICHUR V. RAMACHANDRAN
Violin       :  Sri M. A. Sundaresan
Mridangam    :  Sri Prapancham Raveendran
Ghatom       :  Dr. S. Karthick
Morsing      :  Sri Payyannur Govindaprasad

 

06 Oct Monday,9.30pm
Mohiniyattam by Dr. Deepthi Omchery Bhalla (Entry restricted to invitees)
                                                         

 

 

 

 

07 Oct Tuesday, 6pm to 8.30pm    
(Main piece: "Pahi Janani" - NATTAKURINJI)
Vocal      :  Kum. AMRUTA  VENKATESH
Violin       :  Sri R. Madhavan
Mridangam    :  Sri A. Balakrishna Kamath
Ghatom       :  Sri Perukavu P.L.Sudheer
                                                           

 

 

 

08 Oct Wednesday, 6pm to 8.30pm
(Main piece: "Pahi Parvathanandini" - ARABHI)
Vocal :  Sri Thamarakkad GOVINDAN NAMBOOTHIRI
Violin       :  Sri Sampath
Mridangam :  Sri Kuzhalmannam Ramakrishnan
Ghatom       :  Sri Uduppi Sridhar

1) Concerts start at 6 pm
2) The pieces performed are all composed by Maharaja Swati Tirunal.
3) Preceding the concerts there is the rendering of tODaya mangaLam from 5.30 pm to 6 pm by the "Mullamoodu Bhagavatars", traditional musicians attached to the Padmanabha Swamy Temple.
4)Concerts are open to all lovers of music. However, since the Mandapam is a Hindu temple for the duration of the festival, certain rules and regulations apply with regard to seating, attire and timings. These are enforced strictly and are part of the folklore and traditions associated with the event and the venue. For the benefit of those who are not able to be present inside the Mandapam, a loudspeaker is positioned outside, which broadcasts the music to the eastern steps of the Padmanabha Swamy Temple.
5)AIR Trivandrum generally broadcasts highlights of each day's concert at 9.30 pm the same night, i.e. one hour after the conclusion of the actual concert at the Mandapam.
6) A special feature on the Navaratri krithis, authored by Carnatica's Dr. P. P. Narayanaswami:
7) For more details, the organizing committee may be contacted via crrvarma@vsnl.com , kuthiramalika@gmail.com