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!
The 2015 edition of the festival featured a unique blend of artists from all across India and the world – from Temple Rock by Krishna’s Temple Rock Band to Ethnotronic beats by Filter Coffee to soul-stirring classical folk music by the Manganiyars of Rajasthan to Kalakimamani Padmashri Dr. Kadri Gopalnath’s take on Carnatic music played on the saxophone – the performances were as enchanting as they are eclectic.
The 3-day festival ran from 6th to 8th March, 2015. For further details regarding the venue, time and synopsis of the various performances on each day, kindly select the date from the drop-down menu.
06-03-2015
Carnatic, rock and jazz fusion performance by Krishna Kumar on vocals and kanjeera, J. Sowri Rajan on thavil, Matt Littlewood on saxophone, Aman Mahajan on keyboard, Vijii Cheyur on electric guitar, and Mishko M’ba on electric bass guitar.
06-03-2015
Live performance by Swarupa Ananth on percussion – tabla and Shriram Sampath on flutes and electronica, providing a new look on Hindustani Classical music, combining traditional tabla/ flute and vocals with hypnotic electronic grooves and textured sounds. Mahesh Vinayakram and Jhanvi Shrimankar adds in vocals for this performance.
07-03-2015
Classical folk music performance by a group of 45 Manganiyars from Rajasthan. The music performance was put together by the Jaipur Virasat Foundation.
08-03-2015
Performance by Kadri Gopalnath on the saxophone. One of the pioneers of performing Carnatic music on the Sax, Dr. Gopalnath with A. Kanyakumari on Violin, Shri Rajendra Nakod on Tabla and Trichy B. Harikumar on Mridangam.
To know more about our past editions of this festival, kindly select a Year from the drop-down menu below.
Dr. Kadri Gopalnath
Manganiyars from Rajasthan
Filter Coffee Band
Krishna’s Temple Rock Band
