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What recurs

Programmes

Twelve series come round at Veenavadini — festivals that mark the year, monthly concerts, orientation camps taught by visiting masters, and a practice class every Saturday.

The trust’s year

Twelve series, kept year after year

Some are festivals, some are camps taught by eminent musicians, and one is simply the discipline of a Saturday practice class.

The programmes run at the Narayaneeyam Music Campus at Ballapadavu and across the branches at Perla, Madhur and Mangalore, whose students come together for them. Between them they cover an annual festival of Veda, music and yoga; monthly concerts, both by the students themselves and by visiting artists; orientation camps that bring eminent musicians to the campus; poojas sung with the Navavarana Kruthis; and a weekly practice class.

Every series listed here has been held, and the dates, the artists and the camps are recorded in the trust’s event archive — which runs from the inauguration of the Prathishtanam on 30 October 1999 to the present.

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Once a year

Festivals that mark the year

Saraswathi pooja and Vidyarambham at Vidyadashami, Onam with its pookalam and Onasadya, Deepavali kept as Deepothsavam, and the festival of Veda, music and yoga each January or February.

  • A Carnatic ensemble on stage at the 2012 Sangeethothsavam — the vocalist at the microphone with tambura, mridangam, ghatam and violin players seated around him.

    Veenavadini Sangeethothsavam

    The institution celebrates a music festival named Veenavadini Sangeethothsavam once a year. It provides a stage for the music students of the institution to render their lessons, and music concerts by eminent and well-known artists are arranged on the occasion. Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna, Malladi Brothers, H.H. Sri Prince Rama Varma, Sri Shankaran Namboodiri, Sri Trichi S. Ganeshan, Sri Sanjay Subrahmanyam, Sri O. S. Thyagarajan, Prof. K. Venkataramanan, T. V. Shankaranarayanan and Sri Prasanna Venkatraman are some of the major artists who have added charm to the Veenavadini Sangeethothsavam with their mind-blowing concerts.

  • Invitation for Vidyadashami Sangeethothsavam 2022, its cream and crimson panels listing the Saraswathi Pooja, Vidyarambham and Nadopasana beside small photographs of the pooja altar and the young performers.

    Vidyadashami Sangeethothsavam

    On the Vidyadashami day — the last day of the Navarathri festival — Saraswathi pooja is performed ritualistically for the Goddess and for the musical instruments, and Vidyarambham is carried out to initiate new students into the world of classical music. This is followed by Sangeetharadhanam and small concerts by the students of Veenavadini.

  • Musicians seated on the Narayaneeyam stage during Veda Nada Yoga Tharangini 2021 — mridangam, vocal, tambura and violin — framed by garlanded portraits behind them.

    Veda Nada Yoga Tharangini

    Veda Nada Yoga Tharangini is the unique festival of Veda, music and yoga held at the Narayaneeyam Music Campus each January or February, and is the form the Veenavadini Sangeethothsavam has taken in recent years. It has run from 2015 — 31 January and 1–2 February 2015; 19–21 February 2016; 17–19 February 2017; 16–18 February 2018, along with a special Muraleeravam as a tribute to Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna; 1–3 February 2019, with the inauguration of AUMKARI; 5–7 February 2021; a five-day edition on 16–20 February 2022; and 2–5 February 2023. Each edition brings together Vedic recitation, Carnatic concerts and yoga sessions over three to five days.

  • Onam Celebration 2022 poster with an oval photograph of the Narayaneeyam hall, a portrait of Vidwan Perla Krishna Bhat, and the day’s timings for the Ona Sadya and the Nadopasana concert.

    Onam Celebration

    Onam is celebrated at the Narayaneeyam Music Campus with the enthusiastic involvement of the students. The day begins with the creation of a beautiful pookalam, followed by Nadopasana, in which students from the Badiadka, Perla, Madhur and Mangalore branches take part with the violin and mridangam gurus accompanying them. A felicitation session honours guests and achievers of the institution, and the celebration concludes with the traditional Onasadya. After the 2017 celebration the surplus food was taken to the Ashraya old age home at Narayanamangala, Neerchal.

  • Deepavali poster for Veenavadini Deepothsavam 2022: a lit oil-lamp flame glowing against deep indigo, beside the evening’s programme of games, inauguration and mandolin concert.

    Deepothsavam

    Deepavali is celebrated at Veenavadini as Deepothsavam, always with music at its centre. The 2016 edition was celebrated with a Rasikapriya programme by Master Sadgun Aithal; in October 2017 it followed a Ganamadhuryam orientation camp; in 2021 it carried a special concert titled ‘Muraleenaadam’; and in 2022 it combined special games with a mandolin concert.

Every month

Concerts, and the students’ own stage

Nadopasana gives every student a solo platform; Rasikapriya brings visiting vidwans and vidushis to Narayaneeyam; and the Srividya pooja is sung with the Navavarana Kruthis.

  • Nadopasana poster for June 2022 with portraits of the two vocalists and of the violin and mridangam accompanists on a pale gold ground.

    Nadopasana

    Nadopasana is the stage provided for the students of the institution to render their music concerts individually and thus to build up their confidence level. It is conducted once a month and has helped many students become good performers by improving their performing skills. Students from all four centres take part; a first concert on the Nadopasana stage is a milestone in a young musician’s training, and recent editions have carried vocal, mridangam, flute and mandolin concerts by students of every level.

  • Poster for the April 2022 Nadopasana and Rasikapriya, its portraits introducing the young vocalist and the sitar artiste with their violin, mridangam and tabla accompanists.

    Rasikapriya

    Rasikapriya, along with the Veenavadini Sangeethothsavam and Nadopasana, is one of the series of programmes whose focus is on concerts. It is presented alongside Nadopasana and brings visiting and senior artists to Narayaneeyam — among them Sangeethapoornasri Kanhangad Sri T. P. Srinivasan, Vidushi Suchitra Holla of Puttur, Vidushi Pallavi Shreepathi of Mangaluru, Dr. A. L. Ananthapadmanabha of Kasaragod, a sitar concert by Smt. Sreeja Rajendran and a violin concert by Sri Manjoor Renjith. Thyagarajasmrithi has also been observed within the Rasikapriya programme.

  • One priest stands while another sits in worship before an elaborate coloured Srichakra kolam, ringed with brass lamps, flowers and offerings.

    Srividya Pooja

    The Navavarana Kruthi Sahitha Samvathsara Srividya Saparya Yajnam was a year-long observance of twelve monthly poojas held from March 2021 to February 2022, in which the Navavarana Kruthis were sung as part of the Srividya worship. The practice continues in the Navavarana Kruthi Sahitha Srichakra Pooja and in the Bhagavathi Seva Pooja held at Narayaneeyam. Veenavadini’s Navavarana team has also presented these krithis outside the campus — at the Mathoor Bhagavathi Temple, Thottuvathala, Nedumudi, in Alappuzha district, during the Maha Srichakra Navavarana Pooja headed by Brahmasri Mullappally Krishnan Namboodiri on 30-07-2017, where the krithis were sung for about three hours.

Orientation camps

Learning from visiting masters

Muraleeravam is conducted exclusively by H.H. Sri Prince Rama Varma; Ganamadhuryam has run since May 2005, with Prof. K. Venkataramanan presently teaching every four months.

  • H.H. Sri Prince Rama Varma teaching from the platform at the February 2012 Muraleeravam camp, students and parents seated on the floor of the hall before him.

    Muraleeravam

    A golden opportunity for students of music and music aspirants, organised by the Narayaneeyam Music Campus, is Muraleeravam. Sri Aswathi Thirunal Rama Varma of Kawdiar Palace, Thiruvananthapuram, has kindly consented to teach and direct these camps. Not only the krithis composed and tuned by Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna, but also the krithis of Muthayya Bhagavathar, Kaivara Amaranareyana, Annamacharya, Prayaga Ranga Dasa, Subrahmanya Bharathi, Mahadeva Shambho, Sadashiva Brahmendra, Thalapaka Pedda Thirumalacharya, Rabindranath Tagore, M. D. Ramanathan, Purandaradasa, Thyagaraja, Muthuswami Deekshithar, Maharaja Swathi Thirunal, Andal Thiruppavai, Yetla Ramadas, Irayimman Thampi, Thulaseedas and Jagannatha Vittala are taught. These are some of the rare krithis and cannot be learnt anywhere else. The aim of these camps is to make classical music popular in society and to give quality teaching in classical music. About 27 such camps have been conducted by ‘Narayaneeyam’ so far and nearly 125 krithis have been taught. The series is conducted exclusively by H.H. Sri Prince Rama Varma and has been recorded and telecast by the SVBC channel of Hyderabad. Interested music students and aspirants are requested to contact the institution.

  • The Ganamadhuryam orientation camp in progress: the visiting vidwan seated on the platform with students cross-legged on the floor of the Narayaneeyam hall before him.

    Ganamadhuryam

    Since May 2005, Ganamadhuryam music camps have been in progress, in which well-known artists such as Prof. K. Venkatramanan, Prasanna Venkatraman, Govindan Namboodiri and Shankaran Namboodiri have taught. Presently, every four months, Prof. K. Venkatramanan teaches the compositions of Tyagaraja, Muttuswami Dikshitar, Shyama Shastri and other composers. Past camps include a Swathi Thirunal krithis workshop in May 2019 and an orientation camp by Sri O. S. Thyagarajan of Chennai in February 2015. Students, music teachers and music lovers can all participate.

Also in the calendar

A weekly discipline and an annual remembrance

Sadhaka is the Saturday practice class; Thyagarajothsavam is the day the students sing Saint Thyagaraja’s Pancharathna Krithis together.

  • Weekly

    Sadhaka

    Sadhaka classes are conducted every Saturday. They guide the students to improve themselves through a proper procedure of practising the lessons they have learnt.

  • Annual

    Thyagarajothsavam

    Thyagarajothsavam is among the festivals celebrated in the institution with the enthusiastic involvement of the students. The Vidyapeetam has built a good team to render Thyagaraja’s Pancharathna Krithis, first presented by the Veenavadini team on 25-12-2006. Thyagarajasmrithi has also been observed within the Rasikapriya series — as on 04-04-2010, when it was followed by a classical music concert by Dr. M. S. Bhat and Dr. Mahesh Bhat.

Muraleeravam

About twenty-seven camps, and nearly 125 krithis taught

These are some of the rare krithis and cannot be learnt anywhere else.

From the event archive

Recent editions of these series

View all events

Take part

Open to students, music teachers and music lovers

The Ganamadhuryam and Muraleeravam camps are open to all three; Nadopasana is where a student of the Vidyapeetam gives a first solo concert.

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Support the trust

Help keep these programmes running

The festivals, camps and monthly concerts are held at the Narayaneeyam Music Campus, whose ground floor — hall, library, kitchen and open stage — was built with contributions from music lovers, well-wishers and students.

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80G — donations to BSNUS Sangeetha Prathishtanam (R.) are eligible for income-tax exemption.

Musicians seated on the Narayaneeyam stage during Veda Nada Yoga Tharangini 2021 — mridangam, vocal, tambura and violin — framed by garlanded portraits behind them.