Makar Sankranti is celebrated across India with great fervour by all communities in the Hindu religion. While some fly kites, some distribute til ladoos and some communities light bonfire to celebrate the harvest season, which is also called as Uttarayan.
The South Indian community in Dombivli celebrated this festival by attending a classical music and dance event, Makara Mahotsavam.
The Dombivli Fine Arts has organised a four-day classical music and dance festival in their 46th Makara Mahotsavam. The festival began with renditions by classical vocalist Sikkil Gurucharan, who is among the creed of young performers in Carnatic music, and is a grandson of Sikkil Kunjumani, the elder one of the internationally-acclaimed flautists, the Sikkil Sisters.
"All artistes performing at the mahotsavam are from Chennai and are reputed in their field," said MV Sarma, secretary of Dombivli Fine Arts. The programme are scheduled at MD Thakur Hall in Ramnagar in Dombivli east, 6pm onwards.
Today there will be a performance by vocalist Saketharaman, followed by a dance ballet performed by students of danseuse Padmini Radhakrishnan. On January 23, Priya sisters (Shanmukha Priya and Haripriya) will perform classical vocals followed by a vocal performance by Trichur brothers – Krishnamohan and Ramkumar Mohan, on January 24.
The programme will end on January 26 with Namasankirtanam by vocalist Udayalur Kalyanaraman., who will perform on devotional songs.
The Makar Mahotsavam holds importance among the reputed connoisseurs of classical music and has seen performances by great artistes like Nithyashree Mahadevan, Sanjay Subramanium, Sudha Raghunathan, Bharat Sundar, Akkrai sisters, among others in the past.
It is an opportunity for over 50,000 community of South Indians in Dombivli to come together and feast on classical music. "With the invasion of television, such programmes have seen a decline," said Sarma, adding, "But there are many members in our community who regularly attend such events. The music is like food for our soul."
