The annual festival of classical music and dance held in Chennai has come to be known as the ‘December Season’, with exquisite renditions arranged from December through to January. It is the Tamil month of ‘margazhi’, devotion, the basis of South Indian classical music, bhakthi.  

The December Season traces its roots to a rather loose origin when an ‘all-India music conference’ was held in Madras as part of a political conference of the Indian National Congress party in 1927 to pitch the crescendo of the Independence movement in the right direction. The Madras Music Academy began holding concerts during its first annual conference in 1929 and then decided that a week long music festival be held to coincide with Christmas week – with courts shut and sahibs enjoying several rounds of merrymaking. In many ways 1933 really marks the beginning of the music season as we know it, with more than one sabha, music hall, holding a music festival. The Music Academy’s series, titled the Madras Music Conference, began two days ahead of the usual Christmas Eve inauguration. At the specially erected pandal in People’s Park behind Ripon Buildings, with ‘all its approaches beautifully decorated with flags and festoons’ (The Hindu) the conference began on December 22, inaugurated by Sir C V Raman and Vidwan Thanjavur K Ponniah Pillai. On December 24, the Indian Fine Arts Society began its first ‘South Indian Music Conference’ at Gokhale Hall, Armenian Street, with Raja Sir Annamalai Chettiar inaugurating the proceedings. This was perhaps the first public concert of M S Subbulakshmi in Madras - scores of music lovers watched the maiden performance to the accompaniment of the veena, played by her mother Shanmukhavadivu. The second half of the advertisement issued by the Music Academy merits attention for it is an invitation to ‘come and enjoy the true idiom of Bharata Natya’ with performers of stature - Varalakshmi and Saranayaki. It is also perhaps the first public announcement of a Bharatanatyam performance, for all earlier communiqués refer to it as classical South Indian dance.

The events Music Season allows the aficionados of Carnatic music to appreciate performances by renowned artistes, and provides a platform for promising young artistes to display their talent. A large number of sabhas organise kutcheris (concerts) and artistes come from across India and from the international Indian diaspora perform during the season. Mid January the scene shifts to Tiruvaiyaru near Tanjavur from Chennai to mark the attainment of samadhi by Saint Thyagaraja, one of the greatest Carnatic composers.

 The curtain raiser for Kalakshetra’s three week long programme this year was held on 21st December at the Institution’s own theatre called ‘Koothambalam’. It was a novel experience for me to participate in the preparations at the venue, familiarising myself with the faculty and students of the Institute including the Director, Ms. Leela Samson. As the sun went down, the ticket counter attracted several rasikas (audience) in their Sunday best - ‘Conjeevarams’ sarees, bewitching in colour and design. Bedecked with gold and fresh flowers, the who’s who of Chennai was vying with one another to usher in the new music season! After relinquishing the footwear at the designated repository the rasikas were welcomed by young students with flowers, sandal paste and kumkum. Once settled in the designated seat the atmosphere transported the rasika to an altogether novel world of devotion, hard work and excellence. The actors were drawn from the faculty and students of the Institute and what a proud moment for Priya, my daughter, to be on stage with her seniors and peers after rigorous years of learning Bharatanatyam.

The closing programme of the season at the Madras Music Academy in Mylapore was to be presented by Kalakshetra on the 9th of January and Priya was to dance again. By 5 pm we were at the venue and had taken the best seats! The first event was a dance recital by a famous exponent of Bharatanatyam, Rama Vaidyanathan. Close to 8 in the evening, Kurmavataram was announced and the stage came alive to the story of samudra manthan- the quest of the magic potion of immortality, amrit. Priya was one of the four apsaras, rising from the churning waters.

Looking back A small sample of the great tradition of music and dance being nurtured by successive generations from time immemorial, the Music Season performances were truly an eye opener. Bharatanatyam traces its lineage to Treta Yuga where legend speaks of a decaying world, forcing devatas to appeal to Brahma, urging him to create the fifth Veda and bless Bharata with its teachings. Lord Shiva endowed Bharata with the art of majestic performance and thus equipped performed the first ever dance drama with his one hundred sons. And so natya sastra evolved to create valuable entertainment for people consumed with amoral and sensuous pursuits. The Nataraja temple at Chidambaram is said to have sculptures depicting 108 mudras of the natya shastra. The dance form had the patronage of kings down the ages with the Tanjavur brothers creating the unique Pandanallur style. One of their grandsons taught Rukmani Devi Arundale who went on to set up the Kalakshetra College of Fine Arts in Chennai. The Vazhuvur style was propounded by Ramaiah Pillai - popularised by film stars like Vyjayantimala and Hemamalini. Today most upper class families encourage their daughters to be initiated into Bharatanatyam as well as Carnatic music at a very early age.

—The author is a practicing paediatrician in Delhi.