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Four-day Kathakali festival from today

DUBAI — A festival of Kathakali, the traditional art form of the South Indian state of Kerala, will be held in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Ras Al Khaimah from today.

Thiranottam, an organisation of UAE-based fans of Kathakali and other Kerala artforms, is organising Utsavam-2007 in coordination with the Indian Consulate as part of the celebrations of India’s 60^th year of Independence.

The festival is being held on four days: the first two days in Dubai, the third day in Ras Al Khaimah and the last day in Abu Dhabi.

According to the organisers, the aim of the event is to popularise the native and traditional art form of Kerala.

Twelve Kathakali maestros from Kerala will perform during the event.

“The programme will start today at the Indian Consulate Hall with top performers like Kalamandalam Balaraman and Cheruplasseri Sivan enthralling the audience. The programme will start at 6pm and will continue till 1.30am. Day two will also see some amazing performances by maestros. The programme will be from 10.30am to 1am,” said Ranjini Sanjiv, a performing artiste.

The festival will shift to the Indian Association Hall at Ras Al Khaimah on the third day and to the Kerala Social Centre in Abu Dhabi on the last day.

“The aim of the event is to make this traditional dance form of Kerala more popular among the masses,” said the organisers.

Officials of the Indian Consulate said more programmes were being scheduled to mark the 60^th year of Indian Independence.

“On December 7, there will be a musical concert by the popular trio of Shankar, Ahsan and Loy. On December 9 there would be an inter-school quiz competition at the Indian High School in Dubai. Following this, there will be a rhythm and ‘raga’ musical extravaganza titled “Sur Taal” featuring fusion music by renowned jazz drummer Trilok Gurtu and Roop Kumar Rathod on December 27. On January 11, 2008, an ‘India Day’ parade would be organised at the Global Village involving many schools and cultural groups,” the officials said.