CHENNAI: At least 1,500 girls from different schools and colleges across the city performed Bharatanatyam at the curtain-raiser programme of the 10th edition of the Hindu Spiritual and Service Fair (HSSF). The event was held at the AM Jain College at Meenambakkam.

The event was a visual treat for the spectators as thousands of girls decked up in beautiful Bharatnatyam attire performed for 14 songs. The songs from seven different languages - Tamil, Sanskrit, Malayalam, Hindi, Telugu, Marathi and Bengali - were selected to create awareness of the six themes chosen for this year’s fair. The fair aims to sensitise people to preservation of ecology, importance of family and human values, women’s honour, environment, patriotism and conservation of forest and protection of wildlife. 

Keeping the themes in mind, the songs such as Vande Matram, Bollywood song Kadam se Kadam badhaye jae were selected for the event and the participants captivated the audience with their mesmerizing performance. The entire event was choreographed by noted danseuse and Padma Bhusan awardee Padma Subrahmanyam.  She herself was present at the event and encouraged the students to deliver scintillating performance. Students of Subrahmanyam also performed. 

“The girls performed beautifully and created awareness about the message of the Hindu spiritual fair” said Padma Subrahmanyam. Central Sangeet Natak Academy Awardee Vasanthalakshmi Narasimhachari was the chief guest. “The aim of the dance event is to popularise our classical Bharatanatyam along with the themes of the spiritual fair,” said T Jayanti, a member of the organising team.  

On Friday at least 10,000 girl students sang classical songs at the same venue. The cultural events are organised to create awareness about the spiritual fair, which will kick off from Monday and will go on till February 4 at the Gurunanak College in Velachery. The fair is being organised by Hindu Spiritual and Service Foundation and Initiative for Moral and Cultural Training Foundation. The fair was started in 2009 and now it has reached 10 states.

Correction

The Hindu Spiritual and Service Fair will be inaugurated on Tuesday (January 29) and will be open for public from Wednesday till February 4. Early stories in these columns wrongly mentioned the date of inauguration of the fair as January 28 and that the fair will be open from January 29.