The annual music festival at the Navaratri Mandapam in Thiruvananthapuram begins on October 15. The fete, which concludes on October 23, is a highlight of the Navaratri festival during which the idol of Saraswathi that is worshipped on the premises of the Padmanabhapuram Palace is brought to the mandapam and special poojas are conducted.
Swati Tirunal had composed nine compositions in nine ragas for each day of the festival. During the music fete, renowned musicians render the kriti for that day as the main raga. The compositions are ‘Devi jagajanani’ in Sankarabharanam, ‘Pahimam Sri Vageeswari’ in Kalyani, ‘Devi pavane’ in Saveri, ‘Bharathi mamava’ in Thodi, ‘Janani mamavameye’ in Bhairavi, ‘Saraoruhasana’ in Panthuvarali, ‘Janani pahi’ in Shudha Saveri, ‘Pahi janani’ in Nattakurinji and ‘Pahi parvatha nandini’ in Arabhi.
The artistes who are performing at this year’s fete are T.V. Gopalakrishnan, Trichur V. Ramachandran, Venkitaramanan, Neela Ram Gopal, Amrutha Venkatesh, Aswathi Tirunal Rama Varma, Parassala B. Ponnammal, Sanjay Subramanyan and Vaikom Jayachandran. Except for the last two days, the concerts are from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. On October 22, the concert is from 6 p.m. to 9.15 p.m. and the next day, it is from 6 p.m. to 8.30 p.m.
Each concert is preceded by the rendering of the Thodaya Mangalam and Ganapathi Sthuthi (composed by Swati Tirunal) by the Mullamoodu Bhagavathar family, whose music tradition dates back to the time of Swati Tirunal. They render the Swati kritis ‘Jaya devaki kisora’ in Nata and ‘Pari pahi ganadhipa’ in Saveri and conclude with a non-Swati kriti, ‘Narayana thee namo’, composed by Annamacharya.
