'Long March' Art Festival of Shree Shankara Varsity ends with a message

13-04-2018

The Long March festival of arts that concluded on the main campus of Kalady's Shree Shankaracharya University of Sanskrit this day, witnessed the main campus team racing ahead of others to the victor's podium with 226 points. The second and third places were secured by Koyilandi and Thirur campuses with 91 and 69 points respectively.

Day three of the arts festival saw the conduction of stage events in the form of Mohiniyattam, Folk Dance, Bharathanatyam, Keralanatanam, Odissi, kathak, Kathakali and Ottamthullal, and off-stage events such as elocution, recitation and debate.

In total, the event accounted for more than 82 items of competition, both stage events as well as off-stage ones. Carrying on with their perspective of attracting attention of the society towards societal issues, the third day events were held by the organisers under the banner 'Justice for Asifa'. Asifa is the eight year old girl of Jammu's Kathua who was gangraped and murdered recently.

This art festival that had concluded just hours back in Kalady had many things novel about it. More than 1,500 participants from all the Sanskrit university's eight regional centre apart from those from the main campus competed in the festival. The title given to it, 'Long March' itself has been radical.

Anuja KM, the union chaiperson of the main campus opined that the title was inspired by the march of protest taken out by Maharashtrian farmers recently and by assuming that title itself a huge message was delivered by them.

Besides, to express their support to the Maharashtrian farmers' cause a barefoot walk was taken out by the participants of the festival as part of the ceremonial procession. Besides, the procession as well was part of the competition events.

During his keynote address on the festival's inaugural day, poet Veerankutty said that the title upheld contemporary India's political realities and the name Long March given to an arts festival was quite inspiring.