The famed Navarathri concerts held in the Navarathri mandapam next to the Sree Padmanabha Swamy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram will start on Sept.19, the first day of the festival. Top ranking artistes will perform.

This is a tradition that goes back to over 170 years with the deity of Saraswathy being brought from Padmanabhapuram, now in Tamilnadu for the Navarathri celebrations in Thiruvananthapuram.

As the Navarathri Mandapam assumes the sanctity of a Kerala temple during the presence of the deity there are a few restrictions - entry is limited to Hindus and they too have to wear Kerala's traditional temple attire. Others will have to sit outside.

Rasikas must be on time to be seated in the hall. All concerts begin at 6 p.m. and end at 8.30 p.m. as per tradition.

The classical concerts which are held on all evenings are like prayers offered in the form of music by the artistes to the goddess than a stage concert in a public hall. It is the music, the atmosphere and the religiosity that makes this fest a unique one.

Here is the schedule ----------------------

Sep 19 - Main piece Devi Jagath Janani - Ragam - Sankarabharanam
Vocal : Rama Varma - Violin :S. Vradarajan - Mridangam : B Harikumar - Ghatam: Dr.S. Karthick. Morsing : Payyannur Govindaprasad

Sep 20 - Main piece - Pahimam Sree Vageeswari. Ragam - Kalyani
Vocal : Sreevalsan J Menon. Violin : S Varadarajan. Mridangam :Salem K.Sreenivasan. Ghatam :Dr. S. Karthick. Morsing : Payyannur Govindaprasad

Sep 21 - Main piece - Devi Pavanae. Ragam - Saveri
Vocal :T. M. Krishna. Violin : R K Sreeramkumar. Mridangam:Poonkulam Subramonian Kanjira : B S Purushothaman

Sep 22 - Main piece - Bharathi Mamava. Ragam - Thodi
Vocal : Amrutha Venkatesh. Violin : S R Vinu. Mridangam : Dr.G Babu. Ghatam :P L Sudheer

Sep 23
(10.30 a.m.) Sree Laltha Sahasranama Japam
6pm to 8.30pm - Main piece Janani Mamava. Ragam - Bhairavi
Vocal : Sanjay Subramaniam. Violin :S R Mahadeva Sarma Mridangam : Palakkad K S MaheshKumar. Ghatam: Manjoor Unnikrishnan

Sep 24 - Main piece - Saroruhasana Ragam - Panthuvarali
Vocal :Trichur V Ramachandran. Violin: M A Sundaresn. Mridangam :Prapancham Ravindran. Ghatam : Vaikom Gopalakrishnan
10pm - Dance - open to invitees only - recital by Ananda Sankar Jayanth

Sep 25 - Main piece Janani Pahi Ragam - Sudha Saveri
Vocal : T V Gopalakrishnan - Violin :Kumari Akkarai Subbalakshmi Mridangam :T V Vasan, Ghatam :V Suresh

Sep 26 - Main piece - Pahi Janani. Ragam - Nattakurinji
Vocal - Amritha Murali. Violin :Dr. R Hemalatha . Mridangam :Nanjil Arul. Ghatam: Adichanallur AnilKumar

Sep 27 - Main piece Pahi Parvatha Nandini. Ragam Arabhi
Vocal : Parassala Ponnammal. Violin : Amritha Murali. Mridangam : B Ganapathiraman. Ghatam : Udupi Sridhar