The first full look at what Navranga was going to be.
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How it went
From an empty fair court to a full floor
A craft village lit for Navaratri
The Kerala Arts & Crafts Village at Vellar gave over its fair court to a full dandiya set — mandala arches, strung lights down the craft lanes, and a floor built to hold a crowd that kept arriving after the gates opened at four.
Dandiya, taught then danced
Shamatmika Devi Sreekumar hosted the floor and performed with her team. The sticks went out to people who had never held a pair, and the circle stayed full until the lights came up.
A stage that never went quiet
Aargava played live, Navarasa took the dance set, and the DJ ran the garba straight through into the night.
The floor, for five hours
Not a demonstration with an audience — a floor, with everyone on it. The thing the photographs keep showing is how few people were standing at the edges.
Sticks up
Two sticks, four counts, a partner you had not met. By the second hour nobody was being taught anything.
Food, stalls and the long table
A North Indian buffet, Melova's pistachio kunafa, and a run of stalls down the side of the court — the part of the evening people stood around in rather than danced through.
Fireworks, and a wall of photographs
The photo contest ran live: entries went up on a screen at the venue minutes after they were taken. The night closed on fireworks over the craft village.
The people who built it
Coaches from Thampanoor and Kazhakootam, a gate, a buffet, a stage and a photo wall — run by a crew of volunteers who get the last photograph of the night, at the foot of this page.
