Palghat Fine Arts Society will pay tribute to late mridangam maestro Karaikudi R. Mani by naming the venue of the 15th National Music Festival after him.
Palghat Fine Arts Society (PFAS), which has been promoting Carnatic music for 65 years, is hosting its 15th National Music Festival here from Saturday (October 25, 2025).
Named after mridangam maestro Karaikudi R. Mani, the week-long festival at the PFAS Auditorium will feature a host of musicians from across the country.
Each day of the festival will be dedicated to Carnatic legends like Purandaradasa, Thyagaraja Swamigal, Annamacharya, Muthuswamy Dikshithar, Shyama Shastri, Papanasam Sivan and Swathi Thirunal.
On the inauguration day, Mysore Manjunath and his son Sumanth Manjunath will present a violin concert. Sai Giridhar will accompany on mridangam and Prasanna G. on Khanjira.
R. Surya Prakash will conduct a vocal concert on Sunday. N. Madan Mohan will accompany him on violin, Shertalai R. Ananthakrishnan on mridangam and Trichy S. Krishnaswamy on Ghatom.
The vocal concert on Monday will be conducted by R. Sai Vignesh. He will be accompanied by Sunitha Harishankar on violin, Anilakkad R. Jayakrishnan on mridangam and V. Vishnu Kammath on Khanjira.
On Tuesdays, Palghat Ramprasad conducts a vocal concert. Thiruchirai Karthik will accompany him on violin, KS Mahesh Kumar on mridangam and Payyanur T. Govindaprasad on morsing.
Vocal recitation on Wednesday will be conducted by S. Swarathmika Srikanth. Shreelakshmi S. Bhatt will accompany her on violin, SJ Arjun Ganesh on mridangam and Kottayam Unnikrishnan on Ghatom.
On Thursday, Sunil R. Gargyan will conduct a vocal concert accompanied by VV Srinivasa Rao on violin, Neiveli R. Narayanan on mridangam and Vahzappally R. Krishnakumar on Ghatom.
The vocal recital on the last day will be conducted by R. Sreedev Rajagopalan. He will be joined by Trivandrum N. Sampath on violin, Vaikom PS Venugopal on mridangam and Thiruvananthapuram R. Rajesh on Ghatom.
Established in 1960, PFAS has played an important role in shaping the cultural landscape of Palakkad. “As a border town, Palakkad uniquely combines diverse cultural traditions and languages. It has influenced everything from culinary practices to the cultural ambitions of the people,” said PFAS Secretary PN Subbaraman.
All the stalwarts of Carnatic music including Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, Lalgudi G. Jayaraman, Trichy Sankaran, Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar, MD Ramanathan, MS Subbulakshmi, KB Sundarambal, DK Pattammal, P. Leela and KJ Yesudas gave their performances.
PFAS hosted masters of various instruments such as violin, mridangam, Ghatam, Khanjira, Morsing, flute, veena, Nadaswaram and Thavil, along with representatives of Harikatha and unconventional instruments such as saxophone, clarinet and mandolin, showcasing the rich versatility of Carnatic music.
Published – 23 Oct 2025 19:47 IST
