Thiruvonam Day Celebrations in Thiruvananthapuram City

Thiruvonam day is relatively low-note affair in Thiruvananthapuram city, with people still in the mood of hanging out at their homes after the sadya.

I push myself out of my home, into the city, exploring the festivities. After a usual rounds through the Kanakakkunnu and Nishagandhi, I reached the stage before Government Secretariate, where a team of Kalaripayattu experts perform the acrobatics of the martial art. It was real nice to watch 7-8 year old lads performing the different steps of Kalaraippayattu.

One could feel a chill passing through their spine, as he or she watches the performers using the double-edged belt-sword that creates sparks when it come into contact with another sword or with the road.

There was a big audience, including many foreigners vigilantly watching the performance.

I also love Ghazals and a friend of mine passed me message over phone there is Ghazal performance going on at Press Club hall. I quickly reached there. The audience, as expected was very few and I could count the whole audience up to 32. Twenty of them seem to form a closed loop with the singer and her team. There are not many takers for Ghazals in Thiruvananthapuram I guess.

I stayed there for an hour, listening to the simple sound of Ghazals. I think today is another performance of Ghazals in the same venue, but I plan to head over to Vellayani Lake, to witness the country boat race.