Day 3

All those who were part of the Sundaram Finance Mylapore Festival 2013 - here’s a big thank you to each one of you for making it a roaring success.

Mylapore was the talk of the town last week, thanks to our Festival. Scores of people attended the Festival that was spread out in the narrow streets of centuries old Mylapore. The Festival that began with group singing by budding artists at the Nageswara Rao Park, came to a satisfying close with the popular Trichur brothers paying their obeisance to the Lord Almighty in the most divine form of a classical Carnatic concert in front of the ancient Kapaleeswarar temple.

All through the four-day festival, one could see little girls in pattu pavadais, pinnals with long strands of malli, valayals and jumkis swinging away, as they made their way either to perform at the Park or at the Sannidhi Square. So also, were the professional artists in all their finery heading towards the stage for their performances. Each one of the cultural shows had its own charm, beauty, grace and vibrancy. The audiences to our Festival were an interesting mix. Jean-clad teenagers walking through North Mada Street to view the traditional puli kolams seem to be saying, “We may look modern, but we love our tradition.” Maamis in madisarus were seen enjoying the cultural performances, while their better-half’s took a stroll down to the jam-packed food street to try some traditional finger licking food. Daddy’s who decided to make the Festival a Family event had no choice but to loosen their purse strings, needless to say that shopping was a pleasure with most knick knacks priced nominally.

Day 2

Who would ever imagine that the cycle-rickshaw tour would be a sell-out affair. Counter staff had difficulty managing the bookings for the tours as several Chennaites and tourists vied with one another to get on the rickety tri-cycle. Mylapore talk by Rukmani Ramanni had several poignant moments as she walked down memory lane about her father Sri Papanasam Sivan. The early morning Mylapore walks led by V. Sriram and Chitra Madhavan had enough people of the same frequency to get together on a chilly Margazhi morning.

Young and old alike were seen getting their portraits done on the art street. A number of avid photographers captured the Festival through their lens and have been sending stunning pictures taken from different angles. Click here for photo shoot details. The exhibition of some unique images of the 2012 London Olympics by S. Sukumar at the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan drew photographers of all ages to witness the splendid pictures of the event that Sukumar had captured.

There was close to a riot at the venue of the traditional games - Dayakattam and Pallanguzhi – contest. This year, trophies were presented to the winners. Those who could not make emerge winners swore to practise enough to fight back next year. Programmes for children like the art and craft workshops and chess tournament were a run-away success. This year’s Spirit of Mylapore Award to Lady Sivaswami Ayyar Girls Higher Secondary School drew a huge applause from the audience, even as they recognised the school’s service to society through their noble objective of educating the girl child for more than 143 years now. Click here for citation presented to school.

Day 1

This year’s cloth bag, a look alike of yester years Manjappai, was very well received. We gave-away close to 10,000 bags in a drive to educate the public on the ill-effects of plastic bags on the environment. A number of people were even prepared to pay for the bags only to be told that they could get one at no cost in exchange for a plastic bag, besides being educated on the need to carry a cloth bag when they go shopping like their grannys did in the good old days. Last but certainly not the least was the Thanga Ther, as we do each year as thanksgiving to the Lord. Resplendent was the golden Ther with the Lord majestically seated in it, as we, together as a company humbly offered our gratitude to the Almighty for HIS infinite grace that he always showers on us.

The Sundaram Finance Mylapore Festival 2013 could not have been possible without the support of the Mylapore Police, Chennai Corporation, local businesses and residents of the temple precinct. Once again, from the very bottom of our heart, we thank each one of you for making this Festival bigger and better this year.