Profile : Pandit Ravi Shankar

Kinkini turns 25 - SULOCHANA SARALAYA Kinkini celebrated its 25th anniversary with a seven-day "Rajata Nrityotsava" in Bengaluru. The festival was held from 9th to 15th January at H.N. Kalakshetra and a three-day Yuva Nrityotsava was organised from 16th to 18th January at Seva Sadan Hall. The main festival featured 13 performances while the youth festival showcased six young dancers. "Kinkini" came into being in 1983 with the aim of popularising and promoting local practitioners of classical dance, especially Bharatanatyam, with a capital of 8,000 rupees collected by P.S. Narayanaswamy, a close friend of the Gopinaths who launched Kinkini. From its humble beginnings, Kinkini has grown into a prestigious national level dance festival in the last two decades. Almost all the senior dancers in all the classical dance styles of India have performed at the festival.

Sangeeta Sthalam-s Mylai Kapaliswarar temple - SRIRAM V Mylapore is synonymous with Carnatic music. Long considered the heartland of culture in Madras, its residents can be pardoned for their pride in their artistic and scholastic achievements. Once it was an area known to house rich and famous lawyers. Today, all this may have faded considerably, with the once palatial residences now either empty or torn down for high-rise, but Mylapore still exudes a charm all its own. To speak or write about Mylapore and the contribution of its residents to Carnatic music requires considerable courage, for after Tanjavur, it must rank second highest in per capita creation of artists, patrons and composers. It is a vast sangeeta sthalam, housing many important sangeeta sthalam-s within it, the greatest of them the Kapaliswarar temple whose legend gives the area its name. It was once a grove full of peacocks according to local legend. Goddess Parvati is said to have taken the form of a peahen (mayil or mayuram) and worshipped Siva here. Lakshmi at the neighbouring Kesava Perumal temple is referred to as Mayuravalli Tayar. The area has been referred to as Mylapore or Mylai or Mylappu along with other variants since time immemorial. It is one of the oldest settlements that later became a part of Madras, founded in 1639. Among the various temples in this locality, the Kapaliswarar or Tirumayilai temple is the largest. Situated on an east-west axis and fronting a large teppakulam or tank with streets running on all four sides, this shrine is the heart of Mylapore.