The 10th annual festival of music and dance coinciding with the six-day annual convention organised by the Swami Dayananda Saraswathi Educational Trust (SDET) got under way at the Swami Dayananda College of Arts and Science at Manjakkudi village near here on Monday.
Speaking after inaugurating the sessions Swami Dayananda Saraswathi called upon the students to imbue rational thinking in them and urged them to pay attention to even small things as “life is full of small things” as he put it.
Epigraphist Kudavayil Balasubramaniyam spoke on the greatness of King Rajendra Chola who conquered the Ganges region as also the South East kingdoms to bring them all under the Chola empire.
A distinguished agriculturalist, Dr. Sither spoke on the importance of traditional rice varieties and their nutritional value besides stressing their indispensable nature as part of the human diet. How much the present generation has lost by forgetting them as staple food was brought out well by him.
Violinist Embar Kannan took the audience through a worldwide journey of musical notes when he played music as being savoured in India, China, Hungary, Ireland, and in some African countries. Vocal rendition by Archana and Aarathi added lustre to the opening day’s performances.
Managing trustee and secretary of the SDET Sheela Balaji welcomed the gathering.
