And if you were on vacation at Mysore in Karnataka (a place that enjoys pretty good weather even in May), sure you would have chilled off in the evenings at the rather longish Brindavan gardens to see and listen to the colourful musical fountains or checked out the well known Mysore Palace, all lit up, or if your kids pestered you, then should have opted for the zoo.

And especially last week, the jewellery sale at the Karnataka State Handicrafts emporium may have lured you, besides the authentic sandalwood products sold exclusively here. And some women would have preferred the factory price sale of Mysore silks, while few others may have been happy with just the soft and hot 'Set dosai' at the one and only Mysore Dasaprakash.

For die hard rasikas of dance though, the evenings may have been well spent at the Kalamandira auditorium. At the three-day festival of dance dramas. Yes, going by numbers, the dance dramas presented by leading dancers and their sishyas here between 25-27 May, did draw a huge audience and the hall with nice accoustics and a seating arrangement suitable for dance viewing, was full on all three days, with sold out tickets.

Called the 'Padma Vibhushana Smt. Rukmini Devi dance-drama Festival', this year featured the 26th edition of this fest hosted by Mysore's Sri Lalithakala Academy Foundation.

This annual fest is a tribute to the legendary dancer Rukmini Devi who inaugurated the Foundation in 1976.

And last week, the fest was inaugurated by the Governor of Tamil Nadu, P.S. Ramamohan Rao and the Minister for Kannada and Culture, Govt. of Karnataka, Rani Satish was the chief guest.

On the inaugural day, the lalithkala awards were presented to veena vidwan R.K. Suryanarayana, musician R. Visweswaran, art critic Leela Venkatraman, dancer Anita Ratnam and A. Sambandam of the Chidambaram Natyanjali Trust.

Dance dramas featured were 'Nachiyar' themed on the story of the saint-poetess Andal by Anita Ratnam and her Arangham group; 'Shankara Loka Shankara' themed on the Advaitha philosophy of Adi Shankaracharya by Prof. Sudharani Raghupathy and her disciples; 'Panchali' based on the verses by Subramanya Bharathi by Chitra Visweswaran and her students.

On all three days, one could see the different styles in Bharatanatyam adapted to group choreography, a variety in the costumes chosen for the different characters be it the Andal in 'Nachiyar', the gorgeously clad lord Soorya or the Ganapathy in 'Shankara Loka Shankara' or the Pandavas and Kauravas who were portrayed in simple cottons. And all this seemed to effect a different impact each day, offering Mysore rasikas a treat in different flavours.

Coming up next in Mysore is a dance fest exclusive for children, 'Chiguru Sanje' to be hosted by Vasundhara Performing Arts on 28 June at J.M. Palace auditorium.

Contact: B.S.S. Rao, Lalithakala Academy Ph: 0821-2543636. E-mail:slka@sify.com