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Saarang
File:Saarang logo.jpg
GenreCultural
DatesJanuary, Last weekend near Republic Day
Location(s)Chennai, India
Attendance400 colleges[1]
Websitehttp://www.saarang.org

Saarang is the annual social and cultural festival of IIT Madras.[2] It is a five-day long event held towards the end of January every year and is attended by around 50,000 students.[3] Called Mardi Gras when it was started more than thirty six years ago, the fest has gone on to become an integral part of the city culture of Chennai.[4] It was renamed Saarang in 1996.[5]

History of Saarang

IIT Madras has been hosting an annual cultural festival for the past thirty years. Saarang also has its roots in the ‘cultural week’ of the early 1970s. "Classes would happen as usual during the day, but students from city colleges would come and take part in different competitions every evening for a week. We’d have our dinner and then come and spend the whole evening in the OAT (Open Air Theatre). There was no prize money at all, but just winning something at IIT’s cultural week was a coveted honour.” says V.G. Idichandy, then a student and now Dean of Students at IITM.[6]

The fest was formally started in 1974-75 as Mardi Gras, the focus of the festival being to promote interest in cultural and literary activities and to develop the organizing skills of the students.[7]

Time

Saarang takes place during four days near the weekend of Republic Day at IIT Madras. The event starts with a classical night, which is then followed by the Choreo night, the Light Music night and the rock concert.[8]

Events and Workshops

With more than fifty events, Saarang offers a variety of fare to choose from for both the participants who are out to chill out and those who come for serious competition, in almost any literary or cultural activity.[4][9]

Lectures and Performances

Saarang sees performances by many renowned artistes who come from around the world. It is also a platform where eminent personalities share their experiences or their take on a wide range of topics.

In order to cater to a wider palette and also to act as a filler in the 5pm to the 8pm slot the World music festival was started in the 2010 edition of Saarang[10]. This was in association with in association with the Goethe-Institute/Max Mueller Bhavan, Alliance Française de Madras, and the US Consulate, Chennai. [11] A very successful curtain raiser for the professional shows,this saw performances by T. Raumschmiere from Germany, Ziskakan from France and Hurricane Bells from USA.[12]

The 2011 edition of Saarang saw the World music festival evolve into the even more successful World Culture show[13].In collaboration with Alliance Française de Madras, Saarang 2011 saw In Vivo[14],a unique choreographic play by the French dance troupe S’poart, which has received rave reviews world over.[15] In association with the Embassy of Israel, Saarang also saw a performance by Asaf Avidan and the Mojos.[16] It was very well received. Again in association with Alliance Française de Madras, Saarang was host to Laurent Decol, one of the best mime performers today.[17] Saarang also played host to a hip-hop performance by Havikoro in association with the US Consulate and sponsored by Everonn Education Ltd. This group also judged Saarang's own $treet$(a dance competition). They also mentored a break dancing workshop as a part of Saarang.

Competitions

Saarang sees a variety of competitions in a wide range of fields like drawing, painting,elocution, quizzes and many more. People come from across the country to showcase their talents

In conjunction with Logic Masters India[18],Saarang 2011 saw the Regional Sudoku Championship as part of the Indian Sudoku Championship[19]. The national winner would in turn represent Indian at the World Sudoku Championship to be held in Hungary[20] next year. Saarang organizes a street dance battle called $treet$ in which where colleges from all over the country prove their mettle in both choreography and impromptu. In 2011 the event was judged by Havikoro, a Houston-based b-boying crew. DJ Kave provided the hip-hop beats to the competitors.[21]

Professional Shows

Over the past few years, Saarang has been host to light music giants Shankar, Ehsaan & Loy and Sonu Nigam. The last couple of years have witnessed the addition of an international flavour with concerts by Opeth, Hammerfall[22], Led Zepplica from Southern California, Matmatah, and Duo Bertrand en Cie. Swedish progressive metal band Pain of Salvation and renowned playback artist Krishnakumar Kunnath (KK) performed at the Saarang 2011.[4][23][24]

ISO 9001:2008

Saarang in a move to address the general complaints like a show starting late, poor remuneration for artists and inhospitable reception that plagues most of the nation-wide cultural events in India, started collecting feedback from the participants over the years and started addressing these concerns. Saarang got ISO 9001:2008[25] certified in the Saarang 2011 edition. [26]

Past Associates and Sponsors

Every year Saarang attracts sponsorship [27] from various big corporations owing to huge participation from students coming over from various parts of the country and abroad. Some of the companies that have been sponsoring various events of Saarang are Vodafone Essar[28], Bharti Airtel[29], Nokia[30], SBI, Canara Bank, Derby, Wildcraft[10], Durex Jeans, Pepe Jeans, Aircel, INOX, McDonald’s , TATA Tion, isoft[31], Club Mahindra holidays. The Public Relation i.e. the media sector of Saarang has witnessed association from several big names like The Hindu, Radio Mirchi, The Week, UTV Bindass , NDTV Hindu, Sulekha.com[32], 160by2, Amadeus global studios, miglebox.com. Saarang was also associated with Unwind Center, Alliance Française of Madras, US Consulate, Embassy of Israel. With a footfall of over 50000 across 4-days, association with Saarang is Reputable and distinctly visible in the plethora of variety of sponsors associating.

References

  1. ^ "Saarang 2011 web site". Retrieved 15 December 2010.
  2. ^ "Schedule of Saarang, IIT's mega fest". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 18 January 2009. Retrieved 23 October 2010.
  3. ^ "Saarang to drive home message of education for all". Times of India. 10 September 2010. Retrieved 23 October 2010.
  4. ^ a b c "Saarang connects Madras with Chennai". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 23 January 2009. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
  5. ^ "History of Saarang". Retrieved 15 December 2010.
  6. ^ "Mardi Gras was a highlight of Chennai's cultural scene". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 21 January 2009. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
  7. ^ "Mardi Gras aka Saarang". Retrieved 15 December 2010.
  8. ^ "Schedule for Saarang, IIT's mega fest". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 18 January 2009. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
  9. ^ "Events at Saarang". Retrieved 15 December 2010.
  10. ^ http://findarticles.com/p/news-articles/times-of-india-the/mi_8012/is_20101220/iit-saarang-january-24-chennai/ai_n56528937/
  11. ^ http://www.saarang.org/2010/pro-shows/world-music-festival
  12. ^ http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-metroplus/article780052.ece
  13. ^ http://www.hindu.com/2011/01/25/stories/2011012559050200.htm
  14. ^ http://www.saarang.org/2011/pro-shows/world-culture-show/in-vivo
  15. ^ http://chennai.servicesquare.in/featured/saarang-2011-annual-cultural-festival-of-iit-madras
  16. ^ http://www.nirubar.com/education/news8.html
  17. ^ http://driveiin.com/chennai/article/saarang-2011-annual-cultural-festival-of-iit-madras-saarang-2011-schedules-jan25-jan29-iitm-saarang-2011-6tgredsw.html
  18. ^ http://www.livechennai.com/detailnews.asp?newsid=2010
  19. ^ http://www.hindu.com/2011/01/25/stories/2011012559050200.htm
  20. ^ http://www.saarang.org/2011/indian-sudoku-championship
  21. ^ http://www.nirubar.com/education/news8.html
  22. ^ http://nh7.in/indiecision/2010/01/11/hammerfall-headline-saarang-iit-madras/
  23. ^ "Saarang is back". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 13 January 2009. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
  24. ^ "Death by Opeth". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 27 January 2009. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
  25. ^ "Better than before". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 18 January 2011.
  26. ^ "Saarang 2011 at its best." 18 January 2011.
  27. ^ http://www.thehindu.com/arts/music/article1097456.ece
  28. ^ http://www.sify.com/finance/vodafone-connects-with-iits-saarang-fest-news-reports-jegm0vegehg.html
  29. ^ http://www.thehindubusinessline.in/catalyst/2006/03/23/stories/2006032300230300.htm
  30. ^ http://eventfaqs.com/eventfaqs/wcms/en/home/news/Beep-Experiences-manges-brand-1296287831646.html
  31. ^ http://www.thehindubusinessline.in/catalyst/2006/03/23/stories/2006032300230300.htm
  32. ^ http://www.sulekha.com/saarang/


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