Nila National Festival was inaugurated by Adoor

India’s most-acclaimed filmmaker, Adoor Gopalkrishnan, inaugurated Nila National Festival of Dance and Music, organized by Kerala Kalamandalam, at Cheruthuruthy, Thrissur on Friday.

He has also been selected as a jury member of the international Fribourg Film Festival to be held from March 14 at Switzerland. Eminent artistes and students of Indian performing arts will participate in the three-day festival, which will have cultural interactions between leading artistes and art students. Founded in 1930 by renowned poet Vallathol Narayana Menon and Manakkulam Mukunda Raja on the banks of the river Nila, Kerala Kalamandalam is a major residential centre for learning Indian performing arts like Kathakali, Mohiniyattam, Kudiyattam, Thullal, Kuchipudi, Bharatanatyam, and Nangiar Koothu, besides the traditional orchestra called Panchavadyam.