The beats of the dhol drum, along with other traditional Indian sounds and movements, pulsed across the DBS Foundation Esplanade Outdoor Theatre last weekend. Among the sea of dancers and musicians at Anandha Kondaattam 2025, an American woman stood beaming as she pounded the drum with joy.
“I fell in love with bhangra dance, and as Covid hit, we had fewer opportunities to perform. I wanted to learn an instrument, and since I was getting older, it became harder to dance bhangra, so I started learning the dhol drum,” said Ms Betsy Whittaker, 48, who now calls Singapore home.
Ms Betsy’s husband works at an international school in Singapore, where one of his students is part of the dhol squad. Inspired by their performances, Ms Betsy picked up the instrument in 2020 and has been learning ever since.
“I love music and instruments, but I have never played a percussion instrument with so much culture surrounding it. I was very intimidated when I started learning, but thankfully, my instructor was very supportive,” she added.
Her experience captures the spirit of the two-day Anandha Kondaattam festival, which returned bigger and bolder this year with the theme, “Gratitude and Celebration”.
Organised by the non-profit organisation Anandha Traditional Arts and Music (ATAM), this year’s festival on 29 and 30 Aug featured more than 200 performers, crew, and volunteers – the majority of whom were youths – performing 20 different folk art forms. Thousands of people gathered at the outdoor theatre, as well as online via live streaming, to catch the performances.
The festival opened with a fiery devarattam dance, once performed by warriors to celebrate victory, followed by the rare staging of oppanaa: a traditional performance from the Malayalee Muslim community.
Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, who joined the performers on stage on the festival’s second day, tried his hand at the Thudumbu drum, a traditional Tamil percussion instrument, with Minister of State for Culture, Community and Youth and Manpower Dinesh Vasu Dash at his side.
Speaking to the media on the sidelines of the event, Mr Dinesh Vasu said, “Indian folk arts help to unite people and through events like Anandha Kondaattam, different folk art forms from India are brought together for the people in Singapore. When Singapore’s cultural influence gets woven into events like this, artistes from Singapore can even go to India and perform.”
The inclusivity was also seen in the multicultural showcase, which blended the Malay and Chinese percussion with Indian folk rhythms.
“This year, Anandha Kondaattam feels extra special with our Prime Minister gracing the occasion and playing the thudumbu. This tells us that there is support to grow the love for folk arts in Singapore,” said the chief executive officer of ATAM, Subbu Adaikalavan, 30.
When the grand finale, SingatamSG, took over the stage, no one was left standing still. Among the audience at Esplanade who danced in unison with the performers was housewife Sampooranam Mani, 61, who attended such an event for the first time.
“It was such an eye-opening experience for me, as I do not know much about Indian folk arts. The music and performances were vibrant, which added colours to the festival,” said Mdm Sampooranam to tabla!.
