This was my first trip to Thiruvaiyaru. I was there to observe the annual Thyagaraja aradhana (the 155th edition), a tribute that Carnatic musicians and singers pay to one of the greatest composers in this part of the country.

The kutcheris, in small dollops, took place right through the day and went on well past midnight. Giving concessions to falsettos, cracking voices and up and coming singers, was an act of mercy. But the Rain God was obviously pleased with the aradhana and with the pilgrims. For on the big day, February 2nd, the heavens opened up as they had the previous day. The shamiana wobbled, the river ran strong, the singers and musicians were drenched but the fervour of the occasion reigned - as the group singing of the Pancharatna kritis at the shrine of the bhakta of Lord Rama took place.

It was a big day as far as concerts went - singer Nityashree and chitra veena artiste Ravi Kiran were part of the line-up. Though the developed layout of this shrine is a bad example of skewed planning and design, it is the aradhana atmosphere which impresses a visitor.

It was an aradhana mela - an annual mela that visits the shrine of Thyagaraja at this time of the year. You could snatch a few good concerts under the garish mantap, you could bathe in the Cauvery river - morning, noon and night, you could go window-shopping at the stalls that dotted the venue, and then explore the region's neglected heritage in Thanjavur.

The local community loved the mela. Bright lights, a variety of stalls and some stars on stage - like Unnikrishnan and 'Mandolin' Shrinivas - certainly made their evenings a bit exciting. And the concerts were tightly managed.

For the artistes though, singing at the venue, was much more than an obligation, I suppose. Respect, piety, tradition, compulsion, peer pressure, pilgrimage they must have been there for a variety of reasons.

For some it is indeed a pilgrimage - the small group from Karnataka exemplified it. There was Suma Sudhindra, a veena player, Prof. Nagamani Srinath who teaches at Mysore's Maharani College, who has been here for almost 20 years and singers R S Ramakanth, Selvanarayana and veena player R K Suryanarayana.

But what were all those portraits of the late politician G K Moopanar doing inside the mantap? Yes, he had been an ardent promoter of the arts and the aradhana. But was there need to give his photo greater importance than Thyagaraja? And did the inauguration of the event have to be decidedly political?

Were you there at Thiruvaiyaru too? Share your experiences with KutcheriBuzz. Mail us at editor@kutcheribuzz.com