The 10th edition of the Sundaram Finance Mylapore Festival 2012 got off to a grand start on January 5, 2012 with a mikeless kutcheri by about 30 children at Mylapore's Nageswara Rao Park. Dressed in bright colourful paatu pavadais - typical Mylapore tradition - children arrived as early as 5.45 am for the kutcheri that began at 6.30 am. With the lighting of the kuthuvilakku, the children filled the air with their music, much to the delight of their parents, grandparents, walkers, and Festival visitors.

With the kutcheri setting the tone for the rest of the festival, the next few days at Mylapore was a splash of colours as crowds thronged the different venues of the Festival. The stage in front of the imposing Temple Gopuram saw many a child dance their feet away or sing their hearts away. The dance productions by various Gurus were a complete treat to the eye. The various art and craft programmes for children at the Nageswara Rao Park and Lady Sivaswamy school received good response and the children were thrilled to see their work up in the impromptu gallery at the Park. Dayakattam, Palanguzhi, and Adu Puli Attam proved beyond doubt that peoples' interest in these games were high and we ought to do our bit to ensure they are kept alive.

While we have seen intricate patterns on sarees in many textile showrooms in Mylapore, the kolam competition saw similar delicate designs on North Mada Street. A white carpet indeed it was, and many kolam fans this year were treated to a live web-streaming of the event.

For the third consecutive year, cloth bags were distributed to Festival visitors as part of our campaign against the use of plastic bags. About 10,000 bags were given in exchange for plastic bags and every effort was taken to explain the ill-effects of plastic bags on the environment.

This year’ s Spirit of Mylapore Award was presented to Rasi Silks. The award that carried a citation and a cheque for Rs 10,001 was presented to Rasi Silks on the last day of the Festival. To read citation, Click Here...

The food street served a variety of cuisine to pamper the tastebuds of young, old and teenagers. Ice creams and cotton candy for the young, chats for the teenagers and rotis for the elderly were but some of the food items served at the Food Street. A variety of Indian cuisine was available for all at the Sundareswarar Street at very nominal prices.

Scores of women were found picking their favourite beads and accessories from quite a few stalls that were put up exclusively for ladies accessories. Home made vathals, vadaams, pickles, podis were available in plenty. The procession of the Gods on the final day was proof enough that the Almighty’s grace was pouring in all through the festival.

Our sincere thanks to all the Festival visitors, participants, and volunteers who made this 10th year memorable.