Thyagaraja Aradhana will be held for half a day owing to Omicron spread

The event in Thiruvaiyaru will take place on January 22

Sri Thyagabrahma Mahotsava Sabha had earlier decided to conduct the festival for five days from January 18 to January 22. File photo

This year’s Sri Thyagaraja Aradhana at Thiruvaiyaru will be celebrated as a half-a-day event on January 22 in view of the restrictions imposed by the government to prevent the spread of Omicron virus.

Sri Thyagabrahma Mahotsava Sabha, Thiruvaiyaru, which has been conducting the festival for decades, had earlier decided to conduct the festival for five days from January 18 to January 22

However, on January 12, the sabha committee headed by Rajya Sabha member and the Tamil Maanila Congress president, G.K.Vasan, had announced that the five-day event had been cut short and would be conducted as a half-a-day event on January 22.

The decision to hold ‘unjavirthi bhajanai’ followed by ‘nagaswaram’ music in front of the ‘athishtanam’ along with anointment of Sri Thyagaraja idol and the important event of paying tribute to the saint composer by reciting the ‘pancharatna kritis’ was taken to comply with the restrictions imposed by the government.

Public and ‘raskias’ of Thyagaraja kritis would not be allowed to take part in the festival as the government had restricted the number of persons participating in the functions to 100 only.

Further, those people who would be participating in the event should produce a “fully vaccinated” certificate and should maintain social distancing at the function site, according to a sabha release.