Sangeetha Aaramam , or garden of music, a rehabilitation project that aims to heal psychological ailments through music therapy, has been set up at the Mental Health Centre here.
The garden will be a venue for the inmates to immerse themselves in music, with regular musical training sessions as well as performances.
The project is being undertaken by Swaranjali, a city-based group that is committed to the promotion of music, in association with the Social Service Forum of Jerusalem Marthoma Church, Nanthencode.
The garden was formally dedicated to the inmates by Minister for Water Resources Mathew T. Thomas on January 4.
For the past 10 years, Swaranjali has been organising musical performances to boost the morale and health of patients at the centre through a programme called Sneha Santhwana Sangeetham . Under this initiative, patients were treated to performances on a monthly basis.
It was found that these performances soothed and cheered up the inmates, many of whom are talented and interested in music, Johnson J. Idayaranmula, convener of the Social Service Forum, told The Hindu .
This programme has been expanded with Sangeetha Aaramam, as the patients will now receive training in simple classical, folk and light music, apart from the performances.
The training sessions will be held every Monday and Friday.
Further, noted musicians such as Pandit Ramesh Narayan and Kaithapram Damodaran Namboothiri will perform at the garden over the coming months.
The garden, spread across 40 to 50 cents, was set up after clearing and modifying the unkempt premises next to the female rehabilitation ward at the centre.
