A new cultural platform for NRIs and artists across India:  
Visesha Kala Poshakam Utsav  

January 26, 2008 

The "Mylapore Trio" of Sri Sumukhi Rajasekharan Memorial Foundation conducted its Second Year International Art Festival for Dance and Music 'Visesha Kala Poshakam Utsav,' a 5-day festival from 2nd to 6th January 2008, at Sri Dakshinamurthy Auditorium, Chennai. The festival was inaugurated by Bharatanatyam guru Chitra Visweswaran. Meena Muthiah and actor Lakshmi were special invitees. Doyens like Ambika Buch, Narthaki Nataraj, Sumathi Sriram and Balagurunadhan were the chief guests for the rest of the festival.  
 
Day 1 - V.M.Supriya
 
Day 2 - J.Janet
Day 2 - Nithya.S.Ramamurthy
 
 
Day 3 - Maheetha Bharadwaj
Day 3 - Malavika Suresh
 
 
Day 4 - Arvind

 
 
Day 4 - K.Niranthary
Day 4 - Shraddha Nagaraj
 
 
Day 5 - Pooja Kumar
Day 5 - Srividvatha Sridhar
Feeling the need to expose the talents of many unsung heroes even outside Chennai, the Trio emphasize the importance of spirituality and bakthi through these art forms, and at the same time stress the need to promote cultural history. Chitra appreciated their earnest efforts in perpetuating values and promoting culture among the younger generation not only in Chennai but also overseas.  
  
Children and youth from USA, Botswana (South Africa), Delhi, Mumbai, Karaikal and Trichy, apart from various dance and music schools from Chennai participated in the festival. As a special feature of this festival, this Foundation not only provided a platform for the NRI children and youth, but also recognized their talents with titles and awards.  

The Award is the sacred and divine "Shadari" with Vishnu Paadam on top (i.e. used in Vishnu temples). These have been designed with 4 kinds of metallic coatings representing 4 levels: 1st level - Copper finish, 2nd level – Bronze finish, 3rd level – Silver finish, 4th level – Gold finish. The corresponding titles are SRI, KAMALAM, RATHNA and CHOODAMANI respectively, both in Bala and Yuva categories. 
  
S Surendranath says that it's the most appropriate award (with the citation) to be given, with the blessings from the Lotus Feet of Lord Vishnu, during the sacred month of Margazhi. Artistes from overseas could also come and perform during the Margazhi season and thereby compete to achieve the 4 levels of the Talent Awards. 
  
The Bharatanatyam performers in this year's festival and their respective titles - "Nrithya Yuva Rathna" on Pooja Kumar (USA), "Nrithya Yuva Kamalam" on VM Supriya (Chennai), "Nrithya Bala Kamalam" on K Niranthary (Chennai), Srividvatha Sridhar, (New Delhi), Maheetha Bharadwaj (USA), Shraddha Nagaraj (Mumbai), Nithya S Ramamurthy (USA), "Nrithya Bala Sri" on Malavika Suresh (Botswana), J Janet (Trichy). "Naadha Bala Kamalam" was conferred on Maheetha Bharadwaj (USA) for her Carnatic music on keyboard. A Recognition Prize was awarded to A Arvind (Karaikal) for his Carnatic vocal concert.  
  
'Kutrala Kuravanji' was a thematic presentation by Sasirekha Raammohan, Radhika Vairavelavan, Anjana Anand and group from Chennai. 'Swati Tirunal Samarpanam' was presented by Sujatha Mohan and Saradha Sethuraman. Sloka chanting by Nalini Ramprasad and group of Sri Matha Samarpanam made an electrifying impact on the audience.