Day One of Kolu Contest shoot!

Day One of video-recording the kolus of all those who have registered for the MYLAPORE TIMES Kolu Contest has just begun.

Since last year, the kolus are 'shot' on video and then looked at very closely by a judge. Photographer Rajesh began his assignment this morning and hopes to complete his job of shooting at 80 houses in the neighbourhood over three days.

This is not an easy task as his team has to cover houses on Dr Radhakrishnan Road on one side and R. A. Puram and Alwarpet on the other, besides weaving his way through the smaller streets of Mylapore.

The video clips will be edited and the kolus will be screened at the prize award event to be held a week later.

Over a dozen people called to squeeze their names into the contest but had to be told they were a tad late. The engagement though shows how excited people are about their kolas!

Meanwhile, another photographer, R. Saravanan does the rounds of Mylapore shooting scenes that go into this blog to give you the best we can of the festival in this part of the city.

Traditional games on display!

Navarathri seems to tickle the creativity of many people. Surely, you will get to see lots of it on display this week as you visit the houses of friends and neighbors and relatives.

Srikanth and his team of volunteers who work closely at Sri Kapali Temple, Mylapore greeted people visiting the temple on Sunday with this attractive display of simple board games.

Chess boards, palankuzhi, dayakattam and more of the traditional games were displayed and decorations added as frills around them.

The goddess on the kamadenu vahanam

We were back at Sri Kapaleeswar Temple on October 6, as we did the rounds of the Mylapore temples.

It was a day for the gowri alankaram for the ambal on the kamadhenu vahanam. You needed to get close to the deity to appreciate the beautiful alankaram - neat,  simple and colorful.

This being a Sunday, there were lots of people at the temple. In the far corner, the space for dance and music concerts, artistes of Chandhu Natyalaya were on stage . . .

At Sri Veerabhadra Swami Temple . . .

Photographer R. Saravanan shot this scene last evening at the Sri Veerabhadra Swami Temple on Madhava Perumal Koil Street, Mylapore. The ambal decorated with the gowri alankaram and seated on the Kamadhenu vahanam.

Scenes at Sri Malleeswarar Temple

We stopped at the Sri Malleeswarar Temple on Bazzar Road, off Kutchery Road in Mylapore to get a feel of the Navaratri celebrations. Decorated for the festival this evening, the temple received a steady stream of people. At one end, the goddess had been neatly decorated and beside it was a simple kolu stand with dolls.

The siva lingam had also been decorated.

Giri Fine Arts, promoted by Giri Trading Agency of Mylapore famed for the sale of everything religious is hosting kutcheris here every evening and also web streaming them.

The kutcheri stage is set for groups of youngsters. On the evening we were there, the Gnanamrutha Music School of Besant Nagar provided the music.

The sights and colours at Nandalala Centre

Vidya Subramaniam from Nandalala, Dr Ranga Road, Mylapore filed this report and R. Saravanan of Mylapore Times shot these pictures -

This year the golu at Nandala signifies the concept of  Bhakthiyil Urayum Sakthi. The golu presents interesting facets of Madurai Meenakshi, Kanchi Kamakshi, Thiirukadayoor Abirami, Seerkazhi Thirugnana Sambandar and Goddess

Annapoorani. 

As a special attraction Goddess Meenakshi will be bedecked on each of the 9 days  as she would be at her abode at the Madurai Temple. 

A special section features some great women of India including Jhansi Rani Lakshmibai, Avvaiyar and Sabari. 

There is an interesting presentation on the 50 years of writing by

Nandalala’s founder Mathioli Saraswathi

Apart from the kolu poojas and inherent to Navarathiri.  Kanya pooja

and Durga Lakshmi Saraswathy pooja will be performed at 4pm on 6th

October. 

Deepa puja is scheduled for 11th of October. 

The 10 day long celebration from 5th to 14 th October will also feature cultural

programmes every evening.

Ambika Kameshwar's dance, Srimathumita's music . . .

Elsewhere in Mylapore, music has been in the air and all around rasikas.

A festival of music and dance is on at the Mylapore Fine Arts Club (MFAC), a sabha on Musiri Subramaniam Road. On the evening we were here, dancer-guru-theraphist Dr Ambika Kameshwar led a dance drama on stage.

Dr. Ambika's RASA has just celebrated its silver jubilee and this artiste has been respected for integrating the performing arts into the education and therapy her academy provides to the young who have disabilities.

At the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan on East Mada Street we spotted young Srimathumita in concert. She and her elder sister Charulatha are nowadays seen more on the film music stage and at live shows.

Sudha Ragunathan's music . . .

If there is one place in Mylapore where you may want to be at this festival time, it is this - Ramakrishna Mission Students' Home.

What stands out here is that sense of community.

And the people who make it happens are the swamijis, managers and residents of this Home which has provided education, food and bed for thousands of less-abled boys for decades.

The boys have a lot of work to do at this time - set up the kolu, take out the procession of the ambal every morning and evening, welcome guests to the evening concerts 's and serve prasadam.

The celebrations started here on Saturday evening. Sudha Ragunathan's kutcheri was packed - at least 450 people were present.

But the most pleasing visual for Mylaporeans is the procession that the boys took out, quietly through the streets that border their campus in the P. S. Sivaswamy Road area, adjoining Vivekananda College.

Scenes at Sri Kapali Temple; Oct.5 evening

Sri Kapali Temple took on the colours of Navarathri on Saturday. The flowers, the music, the religious rituals clearly created a special atmosphere. And as the sun went down, hundreds of people streamed in to pray and soak in.

Srikant and his set of volunteers who work closely at this temple were doing what they do best - creating pookalam-like designs.

The team had plucked flowers from the Nandavanam that Srikant grows on the west side of the temple tank and arranged them in a design in one of the mantapams, lending a visual treat to all those who came that way.

In the course of the evening, a procession of the Ambal on a anna vahanam went around the campus and in the far eastern end of the campus, off the Navagraha mantapam, Prema Soundarya and her group started their Navarathri themed concert.

<< You too can share a photo taken at this temple if you happen to visit it this season. Mail to - mytimesedit@gmail.com quickly and we will post it on this blog!!

Season of music . . .

Navarathri is also a time for music. And dance!

And there is a flood of it this season in Mylapore. Temples, sabha halls and small spaces are all venues for nine days of music and in some places, classical dance.

Now, even corporates are coming in to sponsor Navarathri music concerts. One such is on at The Music Academy.

One place which carries on with the seasonal tradition is the Ramakrishna Mission Students' Home, adjoining Vivekananda College, Mylapore. The evening concert attract a big audience. The fest opens this evening ( Oct.5) with a concert by Sudha Ragunathan.

More info on the fest here is at - http://www.mylaporetimes.com/2013/10/navarathri-fest-at-ramakrishna-mission-students-home-concerts-by-senior-artistes/

But if you prefer the unique atmosphere a temple offers, then head to the Sri Kapali Temple to soak in the music.

Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan is hosting three crisp concerts every evening. The stage is for young artistes.