Minister for Tourism Kadakampally Surendran presented the inaugural Nishagandhi Sangeetha Puraskaram to musicians Parassala B. Ponnammal and T V. Gopalakrishnan at the valedictory function of the five-day music festival Nishagandhi Monsoon Ragas at Nishagandhi Auditorium on Wednesday. Instituted by Kerala Tourism, the award carries ₹1.5 lakh in cash, citation and memento.
Receiving the award, Ms.Ponnammal said she considered the honour from her home State as the most precious one than the other awards she had received. Dedicating the award to his mentors, Dr. Gopalakrishnan said music would grow only if the right kind of encouragement was given to it.
The Minister said that in the coming years the music festival will be organised on a grand scale, which would help increase tourist footfall in the State.
“The Tourism Department is implementing a plethora of projects across Kerala. The upcoming Champions Boat League (CBL) will be one of the unique attractions among them,” the Minister said.
Poet and lyricist Sreekumaran Thampi and former Chief Secretary and lyricist K.Jayakumar, members of the selection committee, were the Chief Guests at the function.
Rare treat
The five-day music festival has brought rare treat of classical and ethnic musical traditions of the sub- continent, featuring both vocalists and instrumentalists of various streams. Contemporary Flute Fusion by Rajesh Cherthala and a Classical Fusion Band performance led by Ustad Rafiq Khan (Sitar) marked the end of this year’s Nishagandhi Monsoon Ragas Music Festival.