Cleveland, Ohio, USA, celebrated its 25th annual Thyagaraja Aradhana in 2002.  As usual, the event started on the Easter weekend and ended the following Sunday on April 7th. While I had attended local Aradhanas, this was my first experience of the Cleveland celebration.  My intent had been to enjoy the concerts/events and get a few interviews with artists for publication on www.sawf.org.

These web pages chronicle some on my personal experiences and observations of the event.  It is a pale reflection of the magnitude (of the sensory and behind the scenes activity) of the festival. An amalgam of short commentaries, photos, and sound clips should give you a glimpse of the experience of the 2000+ attendees and volunteers.  The information will no doubt leave questions in your mind -which will perhaps encourage you to attend the festival in the following years, and communicate your experiences to the readers.

Please note that the material on this site is not colored by the opinions of CAC (Cleveland Aradhana Committee).  They are my own.

I recommend visiting the CAC web site and reviewing the material there, before delving into the material here.   References in the report may make more sense if you are aware of the material on the CAC site.  Click on the picture below (my autograph book, DAT tapes, minidisks, photo memory sticks, and the souvenir) to continue.