Swathi Sangeethotsavam | |
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Dates | Every year from 4 January to 13 January |
Location(s) | Thiruvananthapuram, India |
Organised by | Prince Rama Varma and Sir Rama Varma Maharaja of Travancore Trust |
Swathi Sangeethotsavam (Swathi Music Festival) is a ten-day festival of music celebrating the compositions of Maharaja Swathi Thirunal. The festival is held from 4 to 13 January every year at Kuthira Malika, Thiruvananthapuram, where the Maharaja is believed to have composed many of his works. The festival is a tribute to Swathi Tirunal and is exclusively dedicated to his compositions. [1] The concerts are not ticketed. The festival is conducted by Rama Varma Maharaja of Travancore Trust under the helm of Prince Rama Varma. [2]
The Government of Kerala used to conduct the festival in Kuthiramalika in memory of Swathi Thirunal. In the late 90s, after they decided to hold it in different places all over Kerala and discontinued the festival at Kuthiramalika, Rama Varma Maharaja took the initiative to continue the annual festival under the Travancore Trust. [3] The festival is organized by Prince Rama Varma, Carnatic musician and direct descendant of Swathi Tirunal. [4]
Year | Date | Headliners |
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2004 [5] | 6–12 Jan. | Ranjani & Gayathri, Aswathi Tirunal Rama Varma, Kudamaloor Janardanan, M.S.Sheela, Ajoy Chakrabarti, P. Unni Krishnan, Dr. M.Balamuralikrishna |
2005 [6] | 6–12 Jan. | Kudamaloor Janardanan, Aswathi Thirunal Rama Varma, Kiranavali Vidyashankar, Pantula Rama, V.Vamanan, Pandit Venkatesh Kumar, T. M. Krishna |
2006 [7] | 6–12 Jan. | Sanjay Subrahmanyan, Pandit Virabhadriah Hiremath, V.V. Subramanyam, Gayathri Venkataraghavan, Malladi Brothers, K. Omanakutty |
2007 [8] | 6–12 Jan. | Sanjay Subrahmanyan, S.K.S. Hariharasubramanian, Sangeetha Sivakumar, T. M. Krishna, Trichy B. Sivakumar |
2008 [9] | 6–13 Jan. | Sanjay Subrahmanyan, Prince Rama Varma, Manasi Prasad, Prof. Venkatesh Kumar, Master Balamuralikrishna, Parasala B. Ponnammal, Lalgudi GJR Krishnan and Vijayalakshmi (violin duet), Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna |
2009 [10] | 6–15 Jan. | Sanjay Subrahmanyan, Malladi Suri Babu, Pandit Venkatesh Kumar, Parasala Ponnammal, Prince Rama Varma (Veena), Amrutha Venkatesh, Kunnakudi M. Balamuralikrishna, Prasanna Venkataraman, Thamarakkad Govindan Namboothiri, Ranjani & Gayathri |
2010 [11] | 6–12 Jan. | Mavelikkara Subrahmanian, Pandit Venkatesh Kumar, Balasai, Aswathi Thirunal Rama Varma, Sanjay Subrahmanyan, Seetha Rajan and Kunnakudi Balamuralikrishna |
2011 [12] | 6–12 Jan. | Ajoy Chakraborty, violin duet by siblings S.R. Mahadeva Sharma and S.R. Rajashree, Vidya Kalyanaraman, R.K. Padmanabha, Aswathi Thirunal Rama Varma, Amrutha Venkatesh |
2012 [13] | 6–12 Jan. | Sanjay Subrahmanyan, Bangalore S. Shankar, Prof. Venkataramanan, Abhradita Banerjee, Aswathi Thirunal Rama Varma, Master Abhilash, Akkarai Sisters |
2013 [14] | 4–13 Jan. | Sanjay Subrahmanyan, Aswathi Thirunal Rama Varma, Master Siddharth, J.B. Shruthisagar (Flute), Amrutha Venkatesh, Sikkil Gurucharan, Ranjini Guruprasad, Ramakrishnan Murthy, Avaneeswaram S R Vinu, Venkataramanan, Debapriya Adhikary, Vighnesh Easwar, O.S. Arun |
2014 [15] | 4–13 Jan. | Sanjay Subrahmanyan, Prince Rama Varma, Amrutha Venkatesh, Parassala B. Ponnammal, Prof.Venkataramanan, T.V. Gopalakrishnan, S. Varadarajan(violin solo), Saurabh Kadgaonkar, Seetha Rajan's Bala Brundam, O.S. Arun |
2015 [16] | 4-13 Jan. | Sanjay Subrahmanyan, Prince Rama Varma, Amrutha Venkatesh, Perumbavoor G. Ravindranath, Avaneeshwaram S.R. Vinu (violin solo), Carnatica Brothers, Ashwath Narayanan, Sandeep Narayan, Pravin Godkhindi (Flute), O.S.Arun |
2016 [17] | 4-13 Jan. | Amrutha Venkatesh, Prince Rama Varma, Kruthi Bhat, J.A. Jayanth (Flute), Uttara Swaminathan, Kashyap Mahesh, Ramnath Venkat Bhagwath, O.S.Arun, Vani Ramamurthi, Sanjay Subrahmanyan |
2017 [18] | 4-13 Jan. | Prince Rama Varma, Amrutha Venkatesh, Aditi Prahlad, O.S. Arun, S. Mahadevan (Veena), Surabhi Pusthakam, Brindha Manickavasakan, Thamarakad Govindan Namboothiri, Amit Nadig (Flute), Kashyap Mahesh, Sanjay Subrahmanyan |
2018 [19] | 4-13 Jan. | Palghat R Ramprasad, Manda Sudharani, S Ashok, M B Hariharan, Tamarakkad Govindan Namboodiri, Amith Nadig, Amrutha Venkatesh, Prince Rama Varma |
2019 [20] | 4-13 Jan. | Prince Rama Varma, Bangalore Sri S. Shankar, Sri Vishnudev Namboodri, Smt Nisha Rajagopalan, Tamarakkad Sri Govindan Namboodri, Sri Sanjay Subrahmanyan |
Thiruvananthapuram, formerly known as Trivandrum, is the capital city of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the largest and most populous city in Kerala and it is also a major port city. Thiruvananthapuram is where Asia's first space university, the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology located, and India's first IT park, Technopark Thiruvananthapuram is in Thiruvananthapuram. The city also includes India’s first deep-water trans-shipment port, the Vizhinjam International Seaport Thiruvananthapuram, as well as the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple, known as the richest temple in the world. Thiruvananthapuram is where India's space program began, with the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre and the headquarters of Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre located here. Thiruvananthapuram is also known for its cultural heritage, being associated with the musical contributions of Swathi Thirunal Rama varma and the artistic legacy of painter Raja Ravi Varma.Notable beaches in Thiruvananthapuram include Kovalam, Varkala, Shankumugham Beach ,and Poovar.The encompassing urban agglomeration population is around 1.68 million. Located on the west coast of India near the extreme south of the mainland, Thiruvananthapuram is a major information technology hub in Kerala and contributes 55% of the state's software exports as of 2016. Referred to by Mahatma Gandhi as the "Evergreen city of India", the city is characterised by its undulating terrain of low coastal hills.
Sri Swathi Thirunal Rama Varma III was the Maharaja of the Kingdom of Travancore. He was a great musician and composer who has to his credit over 400 classical compositions in both Carnatic and Hindustani style.
Semmangudi Radhakrishna Srinivasa Iyer was an Indian Carnatic vocalist. He was the youngest recipient of the Sangeetha Kalanidhi awarded by the Music Academy in 1947, a distinction he holds to this day as of 2024, probably the only musician to receive that honour before reaching 40. He had received many other awards as well, including Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan from the Government of India, Rajyasevanirata title from Travancore's erstwhile ruling family, Sangeet Natak Academy award (1953), Isai Perarignar from Government of Tamil Nadu and Kalidas Samman from Government of Madhya Pradesh. He was affectionately addressed as "Semmangudi Maama" by his disciples. He was also considered the "Pitamaha" or the grand sire of modern Carnatic Music. He was conferred with an honorary doctorate by University of Kerala in 1979.
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Sree Padmanabhadasa Sree Moolam Thirunal Rama Varma is the current incumbent to the throne of Travancore. He is the youngest of the four children of the former titular Maharani of Travancore, Sree Padmanabhasevini Maharani Karthika Thirunal Lakshmi Bayi and her husband, Prince Consort Lt. Col. G. V. Raja of Poonjar Royal House.
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