A prelude to Serendipity Arts Festival in Chennai

Across generations, India has expressed itself through its cultural traditions some preserved, some forgotten, but always resurfacing with renewed meaning. From court musicians and temple sculptors to folk storytellers and community performers, the arts have been a way of inheriting memory, passing down wisdom, and finding collective meaning. Even today, the pulse of art continues to shape everyday life, quietly insisting that creativity belongs not to a select few, but to everyone who seeks it. Nowhere is this more visible than in Goa each December, when Panjims beach front and heritage locations host the Serendipity Arts Festival, a multidisciplinary celebration. Ahead of its 10th edition, Chennai received a preview at THE Park, offering audiences a glimpse of the programming and ideas the festival continues to foreground. Sunil Kant Munjal, founder-patron of Serendipity Arts, described, The Serendipity Arts Festival started as an idea to bring different art forms together because the original style in India was not to have partition in different art forms. Music, theatre, dance, crafts, everything was taught together, practised together, he said. This approach was also tied to a larger concern the limited access Indians often have to the arts. We wanted to open up much more access to the arts, which was not easy for people to experience. India has such a rich cultural heritage, but very little exposure for people. Even our museums are limited in numbers, and very few are well curated. So our idea was to create a festival which is open to all, which welcomes all, and offers a view that is unusual and where you can see multidisciplinarity and interdisciplinarity in one place, he said. This commitment to accessibility and preservation also resonated closely with Chennais own cultural landscape. When it comes to the state and the city, revival of long-forgotten art forms and literature has been a chapter that has been recurringly revisited by the natives. It was fitting that the preview evening began with a performance by Uru Paanar, a city-based ensemble known for reviving ancient musical instruments and reinterpreting Sangam-era ideas for contemporary audiences. The group, which performed at last years Serendipity Arts Festival, have also recently produced their first independent album with the support of the Foundations music grant. They opened their set with a composition paying tribute to the Tamil language and its letters. The performance moved through three of the five Sangam landscapes: Marutham, Kurinji, and Neithal. Their use of instruments such as the yazh, urumi, pepa, and sangu, revived by their own team under the label, Uru Instruments, added texture to the storytelling, while references to parai traditions, messenger drums, and the act format of oppari underscored the ensembles intent to reconnect audiences with musical forms that have gradually faded from memory. The second half of the evening shifted its focus to one of the themes Serendipity Arts is deepening this year: philanthropy. Titled Collaborate, Connect and Make Impact: The Indian Way of Giving, the panel discussion brought together Sunil, Priya Paul, and Ranvir Shah, moderated by Narayan Lakshman. As the 10th edition approaches, the Chennai preview reaffirmed the festivals aim: to create a space that brings together diverse practices and conversations while remaining rooted in the belief that art must stay open, relevant, and accessible to all. The Serendipity Arts Festival will be held in Panjim, Goa, from December 12 to 21.