The Festival of Sacred Music (FOSM), a 3-day festival that takes place in Thiruvaiyaru celebrating the cultural importance of this holy ground, aims to restore the pride of the Music Centre that existed in the town at the time of Saint Thyagaraja. The festival intends to showcase true and pure forms of music, with the goal of bringing something new to the local art and music landscape of Thiruvaiyaru. It features stand-out performances by artists who are the true torchbearers of their respective fields, carrying forward the tradition of music.

We at the Prakriti Foundation started the festival as a community initiative to acquaint the people of the Thanjavur district to exceptional performances and new worlds of music, and that too gratis. As with all Prakriti Foundation projects, the Festival of Sacred Music is founded on visionary principles – the idea behind conducting the festival at Thiruvaiyaru is not only to popularise music forms, but also to make the world aware of the rich heritage and tradition of the town, thereby encouraging heritage preservation and rural tourism. We work in close collaboration with Dr Rama Kausalya’s Marabu Foundation and Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH).

The festival opens its doors to people all over the country and the world, inviting them to experience the art, culture and glorious heritage of the special place, Thiruvaiyaru and become etched in its fascinating history. The best part being that it is non-ticketed and is open to all!

This year we celebrate a decade of the festival with a stellar and varied line-up of performances from the 2nd to 4th of February. We start with vocal concerts by  the Madras Youth Choir and Baby Soorygayathri on day 1, followed by a percussion concert curated by Jus Drums Murali on Day 2. On the final day we have a vocal concert by Aruna Sairam and Dominique Vellard, being presented in association with Bonjour India.