Opening evening at Seshadripuram; nadaswaram as always!

We headed to Seshadripuram on April 15 evening - the day of Sri Ramanavami.

It was sultry and people said Bangalore was sizzling at 39 degrees and the temperature was bound to rise further.

At the school-college campus where the local mandali was to launch its music festival, three dozen people wore dull looks - there was hardly any breeze and the stillness was hard.

Thankfully, the formal inauguration of the fest - by  Dr. M R V Prasad, a well known physician and vocalist who also heads the Bangalore Gayana Samaj - was short and crisp.

Host Tarakaram said that though nadaswaram music drew a small audience it was his mandali's tradition to open every fest with a nadaswaram concert.

So this Friday evening, we had from Trichy, Tamil Nadu, senior vidwan S. Ramachandran ( nadaswaram), Kulithalai S. Subbarayan, M N R Chinnaraja (special Tavil) and J. Swaminathan.

The artistes took off minutes after they sat on stage and it was indeed a glorious recital town audience of about 300 plus people.