Artistes from Kerala brought alive the traditional art forms of their State with their splendid performances on stage at an exclusive programme, organised by Kerala Tourism, at The Park here on Friday.
Their presentations brought the rich cultural traditions of Kerala alive, and took the guests through a virtual tour of the ‘God’s Own Country’. Their rich, colourful costumes, facial expressions and hair-raising martial arts provided a feast for the eyes.
Young girls presented ‘Malayapura’, an artistic representation of the journey of Kerala. A young man playing the drum in the shape of huge vase, with his bare hands depicted the ingenuity of the drummer. Kerala Nartanam, a new style of dance, which was evolved from Kathakali was impressive to say the least. The highlight of the show was the Kathakali performance, with the artiste dressed in all finery, performing various mudras to depict sorrow, anger, disgust, valour, fear and meditation with facial expressions and gestures of hands.
The two young men were in perfect sync in their display of the traditional martial art form ‘Kalaripayattu’. The youths jumping in the air and fighting with swords gave some hair rising moments to the guests. The ‘Theyyam’, temple art form of north Kerala and the fusion dance were impressive.
Tourist footfall
Kerala Tourism Deputy Director Muraleedharan P. said that the meet was intended to meet tour operators and other stakeholders in Visakhapatnam.
“We have been getting a number of tourists from Visakhapatnam and A.P. We hope to attract more tourists. Kerala has sound infrastructure facilities and with the opening of fourth international airport in north Malabar recently, we expect more tourists from India and abroad,” he said.
The domestic tourist arrivals at 1.46 core and international arrivals at 10.91 lakh last year registered an increase by 11.38 percent and 5.15 percent growth over the previous year.
A short film on the tourists spots in Kerala was also screened on the occasion.