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| Centenary of Saraswati Gana Sabha, Kakinada By A. Ramayya Mulukutla / Hyderabad |   | |||||||||||||||||||||||
 Saraswati Gana Sabha (SGS), popularly known as Kakinada Gana Sabha, will be celebrating its centenary from September 26, 2003 to October 5, 2003, with performances by Mangalampalli Balamurali Krishna, Nedunuri Krishnamurthy, M. S Gopala Krishnan, Sudha Raghunadhan, and Swati Somanath (Kuchipudi) amongst others.
SGS was originally established in 1894 by late Kommireddy Suryanarayana Murthy Naidu and other stalwarts of Kakinada society to promote Carnatic music and Bharatha Natyam in Andhra. It is the oldest Gana Sabha in South India. In 1904, it was one of only three such music sabhas existing at that time. The other two were, Swathi Thirunal Sabha at Trivandrum and Gayani Samaj at Bangalore.
Upon the demise of its founder, Naidu garu, civic minded people of Kakinada, led by Dr. Lakkaraju Subbarao, M. V. Sastry and others organized a registered society and continued the annual festival of music and dance at Dasara time in October every year at the Annadana Samajam Hall. In 1959, through the efforts of great artistes like, Dwaram Venkata Swami Naidu, G. N. Balasubrahmaniam, and Tanguturi Suryakumari, SGS got its own premises named SURYA KALA MANDIRAM. Subsequently, other eminent personalities in Kakinada including C. N. Srinivasa Rao, Challa Sitaramiah and Repaka Subba Rao have with their dedicated efforts, and help from various NGOs like Rotary Club and the Lions Club, improved the facilities at Surya Kala Mandiram, the present permanent base of SGS. In addition to the Dasara festival, Saraswati Gana Sabha celebrates Thyagaraja Aradhanotsvam, Muthuswami Dixitar Vardhanti, and commemorates the anniversaries of Bakhta Rama Das and Annamacharya every year. It conducts various contests for young artistes to promote Carnatic music, Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi. Older than The Music Academy, Chennai, Saraswati Gana Sabha of Kakinada proudly presented several great artistes of the past and present over its hundred years of continuous operation. They included names like Pushpavanam Iyer, Chembai, GNB, T. R. Mahalingam, Sangameswara Sastry, Emani Sankara Sastry, Chitti Babu, M.S.Subbulakshmi, D.K. Pattammal, Chowdiah, Ariakudi, Maharajapuram, Palghat Mani, Dwaram Venkata Swami Naidu, Lalgudi Jayaraman, Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Parveen Sultana, M. Balamurali Krishna, Nedunuri Krishna Murthy, Sudha Raghunadhan, Vyjayanthi Mala, Kamal Laxman. The list is endless and the centenary celebrations will be a grand one. - If you have memories of this sabha that you want to post here so others can read them, mail to editor@kutcheribuzz.com
Dasara Festival Program - Schedule
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It was patronized and nurtured through its formative years, by the generous support of the erstwhile Rajah of Pithapuram, R. V. K. M. Suryarao Bahadur and the Maharajah of Bobbili Ramakrishna Rangarao Bahadur.