The Natyanjali Dance Fests are special. So, as the festivals unfold in Tamil Nadu, VINCENT D' SOUZA, who will be hopping from one fest to another, will file his reports here. The journey, the festival, the sidelights and the people.
From Feb.25 to March 2. Log in every day.

We wake up at 10am. Early for us. Our day ends at 2am after all the dance videos have been posted on the web site. The nandavanam in the outer prakaram has become our control room; it is from here that the early videos go out to the world.

This morning there is time to explore the temple all over again. I
settle down at the tank. Quiet, magnificient and its waters full of fish.
From here, even the southern gopuram looks majestic. Devotees take quick dips in the water and double up to the temple while a stern watchman hauls up those who pull out soap to cleanse their bodies. "We`are very strict here."he says. As we leave Shanti, the temple elephant, blesses us.

  
Thanjavur temple at sunset

Early lunch and we leave for Thanjavur. To check out the
Brahan-natyanjali Dance Fest at the Brihadeswarar Temple. This is a long drive, made longer by the bad roads on most stretches. The sun is sinking behind the magnificent vimana of the Big Temple, when we arrive.

  
Visitors at the newly opened Interpretation Centre

A small function is on on the lawns here. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has set up an Interpretation Centre, in line with UNESCO's guidelines and this evening, dancer
Padma Subrahmanyam formally inaugurates it. Panels on the temple's architecture, the 108 karanas found in paintings on the walls and exhaustive information on the Cholas and on their art, educate visitors.

Shanmuga Sundaram performs

Banani Chakraborty from Kolkatta performs a short Gaudiya Nritya, young Aparna from Delhi follows with Bharatanatyam and the talented K Shanmuga Sundaram from Chennai wows the large audience with a sprinkling of foreign tourists, with his statuesque poses. Sundaram travelled from Suchindram, near Kanyakumari, where he and Mohiniattam dancer Gopika Varma and her dancers had performed at the local temple on Sivaratri night.

The huge mortar base of the huger Nandi statue is the natural stage for the performances inside the Big Temple. Possibly, the best setting of all Natyanjali venues. And Padma Subrahmanyam makes the best of it with three pieces starting with a story from Karaikkal Ammaiyar. Padma is an actress-dancer when she performs in public spaces. "I want the common man to appreciate our performance and enjoy it,"she says as leaves for
darshan.

Sangeet Natak Akademi has sponsored many troupes to do the Natyanjali circuit in Tamil Nadu this season. Artistes from the Sriman Sankardev Kalakshetra of Assam who perform the Sattriya dance said they loved the tour and the hospitality.
This evening, the dancers of Mayurbhanj Chauu from Baripada in Orissa, present a spirited performance. The traditional music resounds all over the temple grounds.


                     Chhau dancers from Orissa on stage

This is going to be a long evening here. Having had to accommodate a few persisting artistes, the fest will end after midnight. Dr. Varadharajan and Muthukumar and their team mates of Thanjavur are ready to the task as the hosts.

But we must leave to get back to base - Chidambaram. At the eastern gopuram, a local artist is busy at work on a water colour work of the Big Temple. The nandi is getting his attention.

Thanjavur beckons. A huge flaxi-banner advertisement announces
'Salangai-Naadham', the annual national level folk arts fest hosted here by the South Zone Cultural Centre (SZCC).

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