My concerts this December music season

Giving below a list of the concerts I am playing this season. Please drop by in case time permits.

http://ramsabode.wordpress.com/my-concerts/

 

December  2011

3rd Dec 2011 – Saturday – 6:30 to 9:00 PM - Deekshita Venkataraman(Vocal), R. Ramkumar (Mrudangam) @ Sastri Hall, Luz Church Road, Mylapore (Music Education Trust)

5th Dec 2011 – Tuesday – 6:30 to 9:00 PM –  Jayalakshmi Sekar (Veena), R. Ramkumar (Mrudangam) @ Sastri Hall, Luz Church Road, Mylapore (Music Education Trust)

8th Dec 2011 – Thursday – 2:00 to 4:00 PM –  Rahul Narayanan (Vocal), R. Ramkumar (Mrudangam) @ Meenakshi Sundararajan College Auditorium, Arcot Road, Kodambakkam (Meenakshi Sundararajan Fine Arts)

8th Dec 2011 – Thursday – 6:00 PM –  Vikram Raghavan (Vocal), R. Ramkumar (Mrudangam) @ Sri Vanamamalai Mutt, Triplicane

10th Dec 2011 – Saturday – 4:30 to 6:00 PM –  Pallavi Prasanna Madhyastha (Vocal), R. Ramkumar (Mrudangam) @ Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, East Mada Street, Mylapore (Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan)

10th Dec 2011 – Saturday – 6:30 to 9:00 PM - Vidya Subramanian (Vocal), R. Ramkumar (Mrudangam) @ Narada Gana Sabha, Mylapore (Narada Gana Sabha)

11th Dec 2011 – Sunday – 7:00 to 9:00 PM - Niranjana Srinivasan (Vocal), R. Ramkumar (Mrudangam) @ Madhava Perumal Temple, Mylapore

15th Dec 2011 – Thursday – 2:15 to 3:45 PM –  J. Sriram (Vocal), R. Ramkumar (Mrudangam) @ Vani Mahal, G.N. Chetty Road, T. Nagar (Shri Thyaga Brahma Gana Sabha)

16th Dec 2011 – Friday – 2:00 to 4:00 PM –  S.R. Mytreyi (Vocal), R. Ramkumar (Mrudangam) @ Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, East Mada Street, Mylapore (Kartik Fine Arts)

19th Dec 2011 – Monday – 1:30 to 3:00 PM - Brinda Manickavasagam (Vocal), R. Ramkumar (Mrudangam) @ Mylapore Fine Arts Club, Musiri Subramaniam Road, Mylapore (Mylapore Fine Arts Club)

21st Dec 2011 – Wednesday – 4:00 to 6:00 PM –  Aravind Sundararajan (Vocal), R. Ramkumar (Mrudangam) @ Ragasudha Hall, 85/2 Luz Avenue, Mylapore (Naada Inbam)

23rd Dec 2011 – Friday – 12:00 to 1:30 PM - Kartik Narayanan (Vocal), R. Ramkumar (Mrudangam) @ Sastri Hall, Luz Church Road, Mylapore (Sri Kapali Fine Arts)

23rd Dec 2011 – Friday – 5:30 to 7:30 PM –  Niranjana Srinivasan (Vocal), R. Ramkumar (Mrudangam) @ Kalyan Nagar Association Hall, Mandaveli (Ayyapa Bhakta Jana Samaj)

24th Dec 2011 – Saturday – 1:30 to 3:00 PM - Deekshita Venkataraman (Vocal), R. Ramkumar (Mrudangam) @ Sastri Hall, Luz Church Road, Mylapore (Sri Kapali Fine Arts)

25th Dec 2011 – Sunday – 1:00 to 2:30 PM - Rahul Narayanan (Vocal), R. Ramkumar (Mrudangam) @ Sivagami Pethachi Auditorium, MCTM School, Luz Church Road, Alwarpet (Brahma Gana Sabha)

28th Dec 2011 – Wednesday – 1:30 to 3:00 PM - Kartik Narayanan (Vocal), R. Ramkumar (Mrudangam) @ Nungambakkam Cultural Academy

29th Dec 2011 – Thursday – 5:00 to 7:00 PM - Niranjana Srinivasan (Vocal), R. Ramkumar (Mrudangam) @ Sri Kasi Viswanatha Temple, Mambalam (Hamsavinodini)

31st Dec 2011 – Saturday – 12:30 to 2:00 PM - S. Malavika (Vocal), R. Ramkumar (Mrudangam) @ Vidya Bharati, Bheemasena Garden Street, Opp. Sanskrit College, Mylapore (Sri Parthasarathy Swamy Sabha)

31st Dec 2011 – Saturday – 5:00 to 6:00 PM - Kartik Narayanan (Vocal), R. Ramkumar (Mrudangam) @ Sri Parthasarathy Swami Temple, Triplicane

JANUARY 2012

4th Jan 2012 – Wednesday – 4:30 to 6:30 PM - R. Raghavendra (Vocal), R. Ramkumar (Mrudangam) @ Swamy’s Hall, R.K. Mutt Road, Mandaveli (Sriranjani)

6th Jan 2012 – Friday – 6:30 to 9:00 PM – Sangeetha Ayyar (Vocal), R. Ramkumar (Mrudangam) @ Kalakshetra Colony, Tiruvanmiyur (Ambalam)

Trip to Guruvayur, Thrissur and Athirapilly Falls, Kerala

1) Guruvayur:

Time of visit: November 2011

Mode of travel: Car from Calicut (around 120 kms)

Places visited:

Visited the following temples:

• Guruvayurappan Temple: The one temple that most pilgrims visit Guruvayur for. More details on the temple, timings, customs etc can be found at http://guruvayurdevaswom.nic.in/index.html
• Mammiyur Sri Mahadeva Temple: Not very far off from the Guruvayurappan temple. Details available at http://www.mammiyurdevaswom.com/devaswom.html
• Sri Parthasarathy Temple: http://www.parthasarathytemple.net/
• Venkitachalapathy Temple: This temple run by TTD is located across the railway line, again not very far from the Guruvayurappan temple
• Chamundeswari Temple

Stay:

We stayed at Kanoos Residency, which is about 5 min from the main temple by walk . I think this has got to be one of the best hotels in Guruvayur at its price point.

Clear positives were:

• Clean, large rooms and bathrooms
• Helpful staff (reservation, reception, service etc)

Things that could have been better:

• Food at their restaurant
• Service at their restaurant
• Rooms are not sound proof. Any conversations or movements in the corridor outside were audible
• More amenities in the room would have been desirable (ex. electric kettle)

Food:

Found it difficult to get really good food, though there is no dearth of restaurants.

2) Thrissur:

Time of visit: November 2011

Mode of travel: Car

Places visited:

Visited the famous Vadakkumnathan Temple. It is a very beautiful, huge Shiva temple, located in the center of Thrissur. More details about the temple can be found at http://www.vadakkumnathantemple.com/

3) Athirapilly:

Time of visit: November 2011

Mode of travel: Car

Places visited:

Athirapilly Falls – Located about 60 kms from Thrissur, these falls are a sight to behold! No wonder, they are frequented by Indian movie makers. They are located in a forest area known for its bio-diversity. There were sign boards that said that a variety of species birds can be spotted in this area. The best time to visit these falls is during the monsoon (June to September), when the flow is at its peak.

A few things to note:

• While driving towards the falls, there will be a checkpost like structure with signboards indicating a place to purchase the entry tickets to the falls. It is easy to miss this while driving. This place is I think about 0.5 km or so before the actual entry point to the falls. If you miss buying the tickets here, you will have to come back and get them. So keep a watch for the ticket counters to your left when you near the falls
• The path from the entry point leads you to the top of the falls. There is a separate route (stone path) to the bottom of the falls and I would highly recommend this short trek as it gives you a nice view of the entire falls up close
• While I visited Athirapilly only for a few hours and didn’t stay in any hotels here, there is a resort called Rainforest that is located bang opposite to the falls. My friends had recommended this place highly. The rooms here, though priced on the higher side, are supposed to offer a full view of the falls
• There are a few other falls nearby that can also be visited – Charpa and Vazhachal, if I remember correctly.

Trip to Wayanad, Kerala

Time of visit: November 2011

Mode of travel: Car from Calicut (around 80 kms to our place of stay)

Places to see:

Please refer to http://www.wayanad.net/places.html , http://www.mustseeindia.com/Wayanad/attractions or similar web sites.

Would highly recommend the Muthanga wildlife sanctuary and the jeep ride there. We spotted quite a bit of wildlife, including deer and elephants.

Stay:

We stayed at Olives Homestay managed by Mr. Biju Thomas and his wife Raji. They played perfect hosts and left no stone unturned in making sure we had a wonderful experience.

The advantage of this homestay is that it is located very close to Kalpetta, which is one of the big towns in Wayanad and yet offers some good scenic views.

Biju was a perfect gentleman in his dealings. He was always reachable on his cell phone for any query we had.

Raji cooked some of the most delicious Kerala food items I have ever tasted in my life! She went around her work with a passion that is very rare to see. She even managed to schedule the food timings in such a way that she would cater to vegetarian guests first and then start with the non-veg guests. Living in this place was like living with one’s own family. Such was the hospitality!

We stayed in the Olives Suite, the upper most room with a private sit-out from where you can have a good view of the surrounding landscape. The room wasn’t a suite in the usual sense of the word, but was neat and clean with basic amenities.

Food:

We preferred to eat mostly in the homestay itself as Raji served us such delicious food. There are a few restaurants in Kalpetta and also in Sulthan Bathery, but I am confident they can’t hold a candle to Raji’s cooking.

Transport:

Biju had arranged his car for our trips. The driver he had given us, Mr. Subramaniam (Subretta), was one of the best I have ever come across. The roads in Wayanad were in a horrible state because of heavy rains, but Subretta drove so skilfully, managing to avoid most potholes and yet making sure we didn’t get delayed in reaching any place.

Chennai December Season 2011-12 Concert Schedules

Have made more updates to the Chennai December Season 2011-12 concert schedules page. You can access the same at http://ramsabode.wordpress.com/concerts-in-chennai/

 

 

My concerts schedule is available at http://ramsabode.wordpress.com/my-concerts/