Swathi Sangeetholsavam, an Inimitable MusicFestival of Thiruvananthapuram

Swathi Sangeethotsavam (Swathi Music Festival) is a ten-day festival of music
celebrating the compositions of Maharaja Swathi Thirunal. The festival is held usually
from 4 to 13 January every year at Kuthira Malika, Trivandrum, where the Maharaja is
believed to have composed many of his works.
The festival is a tribute to Swathi Tirunal and is exclusively dedicated to his
compositions. The concerts are not ticketed. The festival is conducted by Rama Varma
Maharaja of Travancore Trust under the helm of Prince Rama Varma.
Time of the festival
The Swathi music festival spans over a duration of ten days from the 4th to the 13th of
January. It is conducted at the beginning of the year to celebrate the new year and
spread joy among the people of Kerala.
Historic aspects
The festival is celebrated as a commendation to Swathi Tirunal and his very own
compositions are paid a tribute during the musical ten days. Very authentic and
auspicious music is played at the festival, which is curated by a team and performed by
multiple talented artists working in the Travancore Trust as Rama Varma Maharaja took
the responsibility of conducting this festival after the government put it on halt at the
native place.
Until the late 90s, the festival of Swathi was taken care of by the government of Kerala.
But after that, it was decided to conduct it in multiple venues and not in the Kuthira
Malika. Since then, Rama Varma established Travancore Trust and took the matter into
his own hands to successfully conduct the festival in the Kuthira Malika as Swathi
Thirunal himself composed in that adobe. He is a direct descendant of Thirunal; thus it
became important to him that the tradition continues.
The capital city of Thiruvananthapuram hosts thousands of tourists every year from all
over the world for the festival who travel to Kerala to become a part of the divine cultural

and musical events. The extravagance of the Swathi Festival is worth noticing as it
reignites a nostalgia of beautiful classical amongst the people and creates a feeling of
appeal among the new listeners.
Importance
As Swathi Thirunal was a great patron of both Carnatic and classical Indian music, he is
paid a lot of respect, and the Swathi Sangeethotsavam is conducted especially to keep
his tradition of music alive through the current generations and the ones yet to come. In
his lifetime, he had created around more than four hundred different musical
compositions. This level of expertise in Carnatic and Indian music is commendable and
thus, each year more and more young artists pay tribute to Thirunal as he has taken
both of them to new heights.
The concerts and musical concerts conducted in the said manner are absolutely free of
cost, and no tickets or passes are required to be a part of the festival. This way,
irrespective of the day or density of the crowd, you can always go and celebrate music
as everyone is welcome to join the festival and be a part of something special.
People from many parts of Kerala visit Thiruvananthapuram for enjoying the inimitable
Swathi Sangeetholsavam.