The annual dance festival at Chidambaram's Lord Nataraja temple begins this Saturday, that is, March 1, as we wake up to Shivaratri.

The hosts of this festival, the Natyanjali Trust, have been working hard through this past week, to set the stage for their 22nd edition.

The dances take place on a simple stage built in the inner yard of the temple but once the designers and lighting teams complete their job, the setting will be stunning. It would be fantastic if the dancers had the sculptures on this huge campus, as the backdrop.

The fest opens at 5.45 pm on March 1 and the formal inauguration is at about 8 pm following which wellknown young dancer Urmila Satyanarayan will perform. That same evening, dancers from a academy in Singapore, will also get the privilege of performing here.

Dancing into the night
Since this is Shivaratri night, the dances go on well past midnight and into Sunday's dawn - as this time around since many young artistes have been provided the opportunity to perform here.

Almost all performances are for about 20 minutes and they are presented with a special prasadam and a memento at the end of their show.

This year, the festival features many young dancers. Also present will be a Manipuri troupe from Manipur in India's north eastern region who perform on March 3 night at about 9.45 pm and a Yakshagana Mandali from north Karnataka which performs on March 4 night and this will be a 75 minutes show that should not be missed.

The festival concluded on March 5 evening.

The atmosphere is informal here and a large number of tourists and people from Thanjavur, Pondicherry and Chennai, drive down to take part in it.

The added attractions of having many famous temples and pilgrim destinations in this region of Tamil Nadu, brings in the rasikas and travellers.

Contact: Sambandam, Secretary, Natyanjali Trust, Ph:04144-222732

If you wish to buy a CD / video of the Natyanjali 2003 Festival which KutcheriBuzz is producing, make your booking now.
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Look forward to a host of reportage from Chidambaram. On-the-spot reportage Video film on the highlights