Thodi raga fest from Friday

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The ‘Thodi’ raga is sung on the fourth day of the Navarathri festival at the Sree Padmanabha Swamy Temple. An entire concert dedicated to ‘krithis’ in Thodi to be held in the city should please the Lord. The ‘eka raga’ concert is to be held in the Chembai Memorial Hall in connection with the 25th anniversary of Navarasam Sangeetha Sabha, on Friday. The Sabha is an organisation that has been doing dedicated service to the promotion of Carnatic music. “On the occasion of the silver jubilee, the Sabha has decided to hold a concert in which ‘kirtanas’ in Thodi raga alone will be rendered as this is a first in the history of musical concerts in the State,” says Jayarajan Valiyasala, secretary of the Sabha. The ‘kirtanas’ will be sung by Ayamkudi Mani. Muttara B N Raveendran will follow on the violin, Nanchil Arul on the mridangam and Vazhappilli R Krishnakumar on the ‘ghatam’.  The annual award instituted by the organisation to an outstanding musician, ‘Neyyattinkara M K Mohanachandran Award’, will be presented on the occasion to vocalist R Vaidyanathan. Thiruvananthapuram Station Director, All India Radio, will present the award at a function to be held at 6 pm. The award ceremony will be followed by the concert.