KALINGA NARTANA THILLANA | TĀL FRY | RHYTHM REIMAGINED | FLAGSHIP 2025

The Thillana is a vibrant melodic form from the Carnatic repertoire, characterized by solfa
syllables woven into rhythmic phrases called jathis, which are then sung as a melodic line.
TĀL FRY delivers its take on the Kalinga Nartana —the divine dance of Lord Krishna on the hood of the serpent Kaliya. The composer, Shri Oothukaadu Venkata Subbaiyar, is believed to have drawn inspiration from a dancing image of Lord Krishna in his temple town in Tamil Nadu. Weaved with intricate carnatic and hindustani rhythmic ideas, the composition is a contemporary take while simultaneously being rooted in tradition.

The ensemble would like to thank Vidwan Shri Venkateshwaran Kuppuswamy, a Yuva Bismillah Puraskar awardee for lending his mellifluous voice and commanding recitation to this composition. Many thanks again to Vidwan Shri G Raghavendra Prasath for his support and aesthetic addition by
way of the violin.

KĀLINGA NARTANA THILLANA BY TĀL FRY

CREDITS

Music

Traditional composition by Oothukadu Venkata Subbaiyar
Composed and arranged by TĀL FRY

Vocals: Venkateshwaran Kuppuswamy
Violin: G Raghavendra Prasath
Mridangam: Manohar Balatchandirane
Ghatam: Varun Rajasekharan
Sitar: Soumendra Goswami
Flute: Ravinder Rajput
Dholak: Mahavir Chandrawat
Tabla: Saptak Sharma
Backing vocals: Abhimanyu Sharma, Basudhara Roy Munshi, Sreehari, Sridhar, Suhavi Kalsi, Vaibhav Sakshi

FOH: Devmitra Thakur
Audio recorded, mixed and mastered by Roshan Kumar at Aarunya Arts Foundation


Visual Production Team

Direction: Yeashu Yuvraj
Production Management: Anubhav Jain
BTS: Sarthak Singhal
Photographers: Aryaman Dixit, Vipin Tomar, Yeashu Yuvraj
Videographers: Dhruv, Kshitij Verma, Maninder Jeet, Saubhagya Saxena, Shrey Gupta, Suhail Prakash
Editors: Suhail Prakash, Sarthak Singhal