150 artists, 80 violinists and 6 lakh tickets sold and counting, the festival will now be live streamed.
Bangalore, April 13, 2018: The Ramanavami music festival is being live streamed as you read, in 130 countries across the globe.
This year is the 80th edition of the festival and it seems that the organisers have left no stone unturned to give the festival a wider audience.
Inaugurated by Union Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Ananth Kumar Hegde and the famous philanthropist and writer Sudha Murthy on March 25, the festival will continue till April 24.
It is being streamed across 130 countries and the viewers will have to subscribe to the live-streaming page with a subscription fee of Rs 2,500 for duration of 30 days.
“We have done this especially for NRIs who have requested to watch the celebrations. We are expecting a footfall of around 5 lakh through the duration of 31 days of the festival which is why we have set up a special pandal at the Old Fort High School Grounds which can host at least 5,000 to 7,000 people”, said Abhijith Vardaraj, Executive Officer at the Ramaseva Mandali Bangalore.
“Every year we have artists from all over the country performing at the Ramnavami music festival which has also become a platform for young artists to showcase their talent.The biggest addition we have this year, is the option to live stream the Ramnavami Utsav in 130 countries.”
“This is the largest music festival in the world”, he claimed.
Pradesh Achar, a Carnatic vocalist who performed on April 2, said, “This year the festival has received vast reception and gained huge popularity. It was overwhelming to perform for an international audience which is so keen to hold on to their culture as is the case for NRIs and also for foreigners who are so interested in the culture of our country”.
The Utsav has witnessed the participation of 150 artists from all over the country and has brought together a violin ensemble of 80 violinists.Apart from being celebrated in Fort High School grounds, Ramnavami is also being celebrated in various other parts of the city.
Carnatic Vocalist, Nandakumar Unnikrishnan said, “The Ramanavami music festival is held in several parts of the city and is a big event for the whole state. We plan our year according to this festival.” Sree Seshadripuram Ramaseva Samithi has organised the 70th Ramnavami celebrations which started on the March 25, and will go on till the end of this week.
The festival is being held at the Rashtrakavi Kuvempu Ranga Mandira.
Sri Vani Kala Kendra is celebrating the 27th Sri Ramanavami Sangeetotsav today at Sri Vani Vidya Kendra at Basaveshwaranagar. Notable Carnatic vocalists and musicians like Sri Ramesh Bhat Puttur and Sri Ravishankar Baddekkila are expected to perform at the festival.
