I think the Natyanjali should be packaged with short tours.
Tours to places you may skip or miss on your travels.
This morning, we visit the Thillai-amman Temple in the northern quarter of the town. Local people tell us that this is a powerful amman. The temple is small and almost every nook and corner is soaked in kum-kum. And on the walls, scribbled in wet kum-kum are scores of numbers. Our guess is right - these are registration numbers of students appearing for the Board exams! Hopefully, the amman will answer their prayers!
We head to our favourite destination - Pitchavaram. About 15 kms from Chidambaram, off the highway, the mangroves in acres and acres of the backwaters of the sea coast here are unique. Tamil Nadu Tourism runs a Boat House here but it has shut down its lodging rooms which are located on an island surrounded by mangroves. And that is a shame.
Boatman Govindan rows us against the tide to take us into the dense mangrove jungle. This is slow boat in Pitchavaram where time really slows down. Govindan suggests we should plan a different trip the next time.
Take a boat at 7 a.m. to an island vacated by fisherfolk after the tsunami affected them, stay on the sandy beach for a picnic snack and then row back. This should take three hours. Tempting indeed.
Monday evening at the Natyanjali surprises us. There are at least 3,000 people present to watch the final day's performances. Imagine dancer Pramila Ramesh's feelings. To have such a huge audience. She is based in Muscat (Oman) and has learnt from the Dhananjayans and Shobana Bhalchandra.
Friends who work for Doordarshan-Chennai have had a different experience this morning. Walking around the 1000-pillared mantap, Seeta Ratnakar says she was astonished at its grandeur (though i is just not maintained) and is enthused to plan a dance fest inside the mantap.
Incidentally, Doordarshan shoots most of the recitals at Chidambaram and telecasts them in parts, every Wednesday, 5.30 p.m.
As I file this report from the nandavanam spot, the Seraikala Chau artistes from Jharkhand wow the audience with their performance. These artistes wear masks and at no point, show their faces. The Sangeet Natak Akademi, in sponsoring such troupes, does a signal service.
In fact, the head of South Zone Cultural Centre, Thanjavur, K. V. Giridhar, who was a guest today, says a festival for Navaratri should be held here.
The recitals will go on till 11.30 p.m. and it is time for us to pack up even as the last recording of ours is set for webcast tonight.
It is goodbye to Natyanjali 2008. And we hope to be back in 2009.
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