A CBSE Sahodaya kalotsav looks like the Kerala school kalolsavam from the audience — the same stages, the same Oppana and Mohiniyattam, the same chest numbers. It is run differently, though. A Sahodaya Schools Complex is a cluster of CBSE schools that hold their own inter-school arts festival under their own manual. Its categories start at a different class, it grades to a different scale, and it includes a handful of items the government kalolsavam does not. Coordinators who have run one and then the other are usually caught out by exactly these differences.
Everything below is taken from a Kerala Sahodaya complex’s own 2025 kalotsav manual. Each complex publishes its own manual, so treat this as the typical shape and check the details against your complex’s current circular.
Sahodaya kalotsav vs the Kerala school kalolsavam
| CBSE Sahodaya kalotsav | Kerala school kalolsavam (government) | |
|---|---|---|
| Who runs it | A Sahodaya complex of CBSE schools | The General Education Department, school to state |
| Youngest category | Category I = classes III–IV | Category I = classes 1–4 |
| A grade | 70% and above — 5 points | 80% and above — 5 points |
| B grade | 60–69% — 3 points | 70–79% — 3 points |
| C grade | 50–59% — 1 point | 60–69% — 1 point |
| Newer items | Digital painting, PowerPoint presentation, anchoring, Western music concert | Not part of the general item list |
If you are setting up the government festival instead, the categories, grades and level cascade are in the Kerala School Kalolsavam Manual 2026 summary.
Four categories, by class
The manual groups students by the class they study in, not by age — and the item list grows with each category, as writing and speaking items open up for older students:
| Category | Classes | Off-stage items | What gets added |
|---|---|---|---|
| Category I | III–IV | 9 | Drawing, painting, recitation, elocution, digital painting |
| Category II | V–VII | 14 | Essay writing, cartoon; several solo stage items split into boys’ and girls’ entries |
| Category III | VIII–X | 26 | Extempore, story writing, versification, collage, poster design, oil painting, PowerPoint, anchoring |
| Category IV | XI–XII | 26 | The same wide list as Category III |
From Category II onward, solo stage items such as light music, folk dance, Bharata Natyam and Mappilapattu run as separate boys’ and girls’ entries, so one item becomes two on the schedule. Plan stage time for that before you print the programme.
Time limits at a Sahodaya kalotsav
| Item | Time limit |
|---|---|
| Light music, folk dance, Mappilapattu, mime, mono act | 5 minutes |
| Recitation, elocution, extempore | 5 minutes |
| Anchoring | 7 minutes |
| Bharata Natyam, Mohiniyattam, Kuchipudi, classical music, group song, Oppana, Margam Kali, Thiruvathirakali, instruments | 10 minutes |
| Western music concert | 15 minutes |
| One act play, band melam | 20 minutes |
| Digital painting | 30 minutes |
| Essay writing, story writing, versification | 60 minutes |
| PowerPoint presentation | 65 minutes |
| Pencil drawing, water colour, oil colour, cartoon, collage, poster design | 120 minutes (pencil drawing and crayon painting are 60 minutes in Category I) |
Group items open in every category
Group song, patriotic song, mime, one act play, Nadanpattu, Western music concert, band melam, Oppana, Margam Kali, Thiruvathirakali and Kolkkali are offered in all four categories. Several are single-gender by rule — Oppana, Margam Kali and Thiruvathirakali for girls, Kolkkali for boys — so registration has to stop a mixed team from being entered. For what judges should reward in the group items, see the group dance judging criteria and group song criteria.
Fees and registration
The 2025 manual charges per participant rather than per item: ₹350 for a participant’s first item and ₹100 for each additional item. Complexes set their own fees, so confirm yours — but if yours works the same way, the fee depends on how many items each child enters, which is hard to track on paper once late entries start arriving.
Running a Sahodaya kalotsav on eTalenter
Every rule above is a setting, not something to remember on the day. Set the four categories by class, the item list for each, the 70/60/50 grade bands with 5/3/1 points, the time limits and warning bells, and the boys/girls splits. Registration then refuses an entry that breaks a rule, and results come out graded and totalled for each school. Schools register their own candidates, chest numbers and ID cards print from the same data, and judges score from their phones. See eTalenter’s kalolsavam management software for the full workflow.
Frequently asked questions
What is the grading system in a CBSE Sahodaya kalotsav?
In the 2025 manual we followed, an A grade is 70% and above (5 points), B is 60–69% (3 points) and C is 50–59% (1 point). Below 50% gets no grade. That is ten points lower at every band than the Kerala government kalolsavam.
Which classes are in each Sahodaya kalotsav category?
Category I is classes III–IV, Category II is V–VII, Category III is VIII–X and Category IV is XI–XII. Classes I and II are not part of these categories.
Are Sahodaya kalotsav rules the same everywhere?
No. Each Sahodaya complex publishes its own manual, so grade bands, fees and item lists can differ between complexes and from year to year. Use this page as the typical structure and your complex’s circular as the rule.
Organising a Sahodaya kalotsav this year? Open a live kalolsavam demo and log in as a demo coordinator or judge (no sign-up), message us on WhatsApp (WhatsApp only — no phone calls), or email support@etalenter.com.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.