Shanghumugham beach: golden sands, picturesque sunsets and waves that lap at your feet or sweep you off your feet. Just a few km away from the heart of the city, Shanghumugham beach remains one of the most popular places to hang out, be it with your friends, family or that special person in your life.
Packed in the evenings with visitors, vendors and itinerant singers and artistes who make a living on the beach, Shanghumugham has long been the city’s favourite haunt during the hot summer evenings. As the sun sinks into the horizon in a dramatic collage of colours, fishermen haul their long boats from the sands to battle the waves and soon the sea is lit up with twinkling lights from their boats.
As the skies darken and the street lights come on, the beach starts getting deserted. Since large stretches of Shanghumugham beach are not particularly well-lit, most of the places near the shoreline are shrouded in darkness. The action then shifts to parks and eateries near the beach where families congregate leaving the beach to a few couples and men hanging around.
However, ever since the city Corporation inaugurated its Shanghumugham Art Museum, efforts have been made to change the complexion of the location and make it a popular haunt of denizens in the city who are looking for something more than enjoying the sensation of the wind in your hair and the feel of scrunching your feet in the sand.
Circle Kite flying by the One India Kite Team at the Shankumugham Beach in Thiruvananthapuram | Photo Credit: S Mahinsha
While the museum has been offering art aficionados food for their artistic souls, Ajit Kumar G, director of the museum, has been quietly making plans to turn the arclights on the beach, this time literally.
“So, from February 22 onwards, we will be having a synchronised light show on the beach. Part of a seven-day festival, Beach Carnival, the light show will go on till February 28,” explains Ajit.
Sreekanth Nair, director of Cameo Lights, says that the idea is to light up the sea in a carefully chosen palette of lights. “Ten years ago, we had done something similar when a play of Safdar Hashmi’s was staged on the beach under the auspices of a cultural programme called Manaveeyam. Now, we are doing something similar but with a difference. The idea is to have a theme and light up the beach in tune with that theme, to the accompaniment of music,” elaborates Sreekanth.
Organised by the Corporation in association with Vyloppilly Samskriti Bhavan and District Tourism Promotion Council, Beach Carnival will have a wide range of events for every one visiting the beach.
Artists and students of the College of Fine Arts will do portraits and caricatures while art installations will dot the sandy stretch.
“There will be cultural events too, all on the beach. Moreover, every day, there will be sports events that will be open to the public. There will be games such as beach volleyball, beach football and so on,” explains Ajith.
For many senior citizens in the city, the sports events will reopen an album of sepia-tinted memories of a badminton court that used to be located inside GV Raja Indoor Sports stadium at Shanghumugham.
In the seventies and early eighties, the court used to resonate with the ping of many a match being played on the court. And many a match was made there as youngsters found it a convenient place to go courting, what with the Indian Coffee House being situated next to the badminton courts.
To revive those heady days of yore, Beach Carnival will include a food fête selling hot eats. Ajit says they want to make the beach a happening place after sunset too. According to him, more of interesting events such as live painting displays, street magic shows, sand sculpture and a craft fair are on the cards.
“Since this is the first time we are doing something of this nature, we are still finalising the plans for the carnival. But we are sure that each visitor will have something memorable to take home from the carnival,” he asserts.
The cultural events are
February 22: Folk songs by Jayachandran Kadambanad
February 23: Play by Lokadharmi
February 24: Chennai-based music band ‘Madras Mail’
February 25: Mohiniyattam by Divya Nedungadi
February 26: Theyyam
February 27: Dollu Kunitha, a drum dance of Karnataka
February 28: Concert by Job Kurian and his band