Musical start to Ramanavami

BANGALORE: Raingod ‘showered’ his blessings on Ramanavami Day on Tuesday. The belief is that it rains on Ramanavami every year. And it did, bringing down temperature in the process.
Kadri Gopalnath’s brilliant saxophone recital marked the inauguration of the 66th Sree Ramanavami Music Festival at the packed Fort High School Grounds in Chamarajpet.The festival is organised by Sree Ramaseva Mandali.
The 38-day-long festival, held as part of Ramanavami celebrations, is set to reflect the vibrancy of classical music, the devotion of crowds and festive mood.
Chief minister S.M. Krishna’s wife Prema, who presided over the inaugural, said: “May Ramanavami and people’s faith in the CM bring Krishna back to power.’’
Chief minister Krishna, who reached Bangalore from New Delhi late in the evening, joined the programme at about 8 pm and stayed on for an hour.
Vidyabhushana, Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan, Unnikrishnan, Hyderabad Brothers, U. Srinivas, Sudha Raghunathan, Nityashree Mahadevan and Anuradha Madhusudan are among the artistes who will perform at the music festival. Daily “pravachanas’’ will start from Wednesday to April 28.
What was started by music aficionado S.V. Narayanaswamy Rao 66 years ago, has come a long way with performances by renowned musicians, said president of Sree Ramaseva Mandali, Lakshman Rau.
Noted educationist H. Narasimhaiah expressed concern over the increasing advent of western culture. “Concerts like Ramanavami music festival not only preserves the Indian culture but also encourages budding Indian artistes,’’ he said.