Mamallapuram Dance festival - Mamallapuram, Tamil Nadu

Once the ancient port of the Pallavas, Mamallapuram plays host to a vibrant festival of Dance. Exponents of Bharat Natyam, Kuchipudi, Kathak and Kathakali performed against the magnificent backdrop of the Pallava Rock Sculpture.

Mamallapuram Dance Festival is organized during the months of January and February in the city of Mahabalipuram in Tamil Nadu.

This event witnesses performances on the Indian classical dances such as the Bharat Natyam, Kuchipudi, Kathak, Mohiniattam, Odissi and Kathakali.The prominent people from their respected fields gather for this cultural event that is also promoted by the Tamil Nadu Tourism Department as one of the major cultural attraction to these parts of India.

This four week Mamallapuram Dance Festival is held at the venue of Arjuna's penance, a bass-relief sculpted on the face of two enormous adjacent rocks, in Mamallapuram. The magnificent backdrop that is provided by the Pallava Rock Sculptures provide an aesthetic touch to this cultural dance festival.

The open-air stage and the dancers from far and wide come to watch the best folk dancers in India perform in front of them under the open skies in an open-air theatre style ambience. This open-air stage was created about thirteen centuries ago, the incredible monolithic rock sculptures of the Pallavas, next to the sea in this ancient city of Mamallapuram.

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Kannadasan

Kannadasan (Tamil: கண்ணதாசன்) (24 June 1927–17 October 1981) was a Tamil poet and lyricist, heralded as one of the greatest and most important writer in the Tamil language. Frequently called Kaviarasu (English: King of Poets), Kannadasan was most familiar for his song lyrics in Tamil films and contributed around 5000 lyrics besides 6000 poems and 232 books, including novels, epics, plays, essays, his most popular being the 10-part religious essay on Hinduism, captioned Arthamulla Indhumatham (English: Meaningful Hinduism). He won the Sahitya Akademi Award for his novel Cheraman Kadali in the year 1980 and was the first ever to receive the National Film Award for Best Lyrics, given in 1969 for the film Kuzhanthaikkaga.
Kannadasan was born in Sirukudalpatti, near Karaikudi, Tamil Nadu, India and was given the birth name Muthiah. But when he died at the age of 54, on 16 October 1981, millions of Tamils remembered him only by the name Kannadasan. For Tamils all over the world, he epitomised their poetry style. Even those who couldn't read the poetry of Kamban or the maxims of Valluvan, could hum the compositions of poet Kannadasan.


Kaviyarasu Kannadasan's with Chief Minister Dr.MG Ramachandran


Kaviyarasu Kannadasan's Mortal remains ....Late Dr.MGR consoling the family members
There is no doubt that he had a penetrating eye and keen observational powers. He also did not live a cocoon-type of life. He dipped into everything that Tamil Nadu could offer - wine, women, drugs, politics, polemics, atheism and religious sanctuary. After enjoying everything, what he did was remarkable - he composed verses about all his experiences, with reflective self-deprecating humour, irony, and biting sarcasm. These verses touched the sympathetic chords of Tamils from all walks of life - school boys, undergrads, housewives, farmers, manual labourers, plantation workers, middle class representatives and even upper class elites.
Atheism to Hinduism

Muthiah was a staunch atheist and a follower of the Dravidian atheistic movement. He had great love for the Tamil language and culture, and excelled in Tamil literature, prose and poetry. He once read the Thiruppavai of Andal, and was amazed at its mystic poetry, that was to have a deep and everlasting impact on him. After a lot of introspection, he decided to reconvert back into Hinduism, christened himself Kannadasan, dug deep into understanding Hinduism, and wrote his series of books on Hinduism titled "Arthamulla Indu Matham"
[edit]Poets laureate

Kannadasan was the poet Laureate of the Tamilnadu Government when he died.His autobiography is called "Vanavasam" that was published by Vanathi Publishers.
[edit]Death

Kannadasan died on 17 October 1981 in Chicago, United States, where he had gone from India to attend a Tamil conference organised by the Tamil Association of Chicago. A house in Sirukootalpatti is now a memorial for the Tamil film music's evergreen favourites. The Kannadasan memorial museum was inaugurated on June 25.

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P. C. Sreeram

P. C. Sreeram (born 26 January in Chennai, India) is a cinematographer and film director, educated at the Madras Film Institute. P.C. Sreeram is fondly called as PC sir. P.C. Sreeram won appreciations for his various cinematographic works and his directorial venture Kurruthipunal(1995) was selected as India's official entry to the Oscars. P.C. Sreeram is Admired by fellow Technicians, Industry professionals and the general Public and is considered as one of the stars of the Indian film industry. P.C. Sreeram is India's best cinematographer.
P.C. Sreeram has been a mentor of some of the top cinematographer's in the Indian film industry, some of whom include Jeeva, K. V. Anand, Tirru, M.S.Prabhu, Ramji, Arjun Jena, Fowzia, and Andrew. Sreeram stepped into direction in 1992, directing his first feature film Meera with actor Vikram in lead role.
He is considered to be one of greatest Indian cinematographers.


Often referred to as India's greatest Cinematographer, P C Sreeram is also a Director.

Some of his films as a Cinematographer:
His first film was the Mohanlal starrer Malayalam movie Koodum Thedi (1985).

Mouna Ragam (1986), was the first amongst many more of his films with Mani Ratnam.

Nayakan (1987), another Mani Ratnam film in Tamil, starring Kamal Hassan is about a little boy who grows up to be a "good" Don. The film did well.

Gitanjali (1989), Mani Ratnam's poignant love story, is still remembered for its beautifully shot sequences.

Thevar Magan (1992), starring Kamal Hassan and Shivaji Ganesan, was a big hit.

Alai Payuthey (2000), which was later remade in Hindi as Saathiya, was a sensational hit. The film (Mani Ratnam's) is about the problems a young couple faces in their married life, soon after they tie the knot.

His Bollywood film Dil Hi Dil Mein (2000), did not do well at the box office.

But his next Bollywood venture, Cheeni Kum (2007), a light comedy did good business.

Dhaam Dhoom (2008), is a Tamil film, shot extensively in Russia.

The Bollywood horror flick, 13B (2009), was not as scary as promised. It got average reviews.

Paa, which released in December 2009, has already become quite a hit with audiences of all age groups.

3 films as Director:
In 1992, P C Sreeram Directed Meera, a Tamil film. It was average.

His next film Kuruthipunal (1996), was a huge hit.

Dhaam Dhoom (2008) did not do great.

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