The Sree Guruvayurappan Chembai Puraskaram instituted by Sree Krishna temple, Guruvayur will be presented to Carnatic vocalist Parassala Ponnammal this year.

The award, comprising a cash prize of Rs 50,001, a gold locket of Sree Guruvayurappan, a citation and Ponnada, will be presented to Ponnammal on the inaugural day of Chembai Sangeetholsavam to be held at Melpathur auditorium in Guruvayur on November 13. Temple administration Chairman Thottathil Raveendran announced the award recently.

The award was instituted in memory of the late Carnatic music maestro Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar.

The temple aslo presents other awards inmemory of veteran artists every year. The Manaveda Suvarnamudra Purskaram of Sree Krishna temple for Krishnanattam artists in memory of Zamorin Manaveda Raja for the year will be presented to Krishnanttam vesham asaan K. Sukumaran.

The Vasu Nedungadi memorial Suvarna Mudra Purskaram for the year will be presented to chutti asaan (make-up) K. Chandrasekharan. The awards will be presented on Krishna Geethi day on November 15.

The Chembai Sangeetholsavam runs till late November. Every day, artistes are given slots to perform and concerts start in the morn and end late in the evening. Senior artistes perform in the evening.

On Ekadasi day, the concerts are dedicated to Chembai who was known for his musical prayers at this famed temple on Ekadasi. On this day, artistes will perform the pancharatna kritis and 5 favourite songs of Chembai