Tamil Nadu’s government and government-aided schools run their own state-wide cultural festival every year, known as Kalai Thiruvizha. It follows the same “promote the winner upward” logic as Kerala’s Kalolsavam or the CBSE Sahodaya festivals, but with its own class bands, its own item list, and its own judging paperwork — so a Tamil Nadu Kalai Thiruvizha software setup needs to match the state’s actual rules, not a generic arts-fest template. This guide walks through the real structure, drawn from the Tamil Nadu School Education Department’s own circular, and how to configure it in eTalenter.
What Kalai Thiruvizha is
Kalai Thiruvizha (“festival of arts”) is organised under joint proceedings issued by the Tamil Nadu School Education Department (Na.Ka.En.2220/Aa8/Kalaithiruvizha/Opa/2025, dated 24.07.2025), with a themed focus each year — the 2025–26 cycle runs under the theme “Greenery and Heritage.” It is open only to government and government-aided schools, and it is structured as a promotion cascade: a student who wins at one level is the one who goes forward, not a fresh entry at the next round.
The level cascade
- School — every participating school’s own internal round
- Cluster — classes 1–5 only; clusters sit below the block level and don’t apply to classes 6 and above
- Block
- District
- State
At each level, the winner in each item is the one promoted to the next level — the same results-cascade-upward pattern used across government school festivals in India, not a re-registration at every stage.
Class bands and item counts
Kalai Thiruvizha groups students into five class bands, and each band carries its own, larger or smaller, item list:
- Classes 1–2 — 6 items
- Classes 3–5 — 12 items
- Classes 6–8 — 14 items
- Classes 9–10 — 34 items
- Classes 11–12 — 34 items
Every item in every band can be entered as either Individual or Team, matched to the item’s own nature — so the same age band’s catalogue carries both solo and group competitions side by side.
On Stage and Off Stage items
The catalogue splits cleanly into two halves, the same On Stage / Off Stage split organisers already plan around in Kerala’s kalolsavam:
- On Stage — recitation, storytelling, speech, Thirukkural recitation, classical and folk vocal music, Bharatanatyam, folk dance, and a performance cluster covering Therukoothu (street theatre), literary drama, Villupattu (bow-song storytelling) and puppetry, plus instrumental music items
- Off Stage — colouring, clay work, rangoli, sand sculpture, and cartooning
On Stage items need a stage schedule and a performance order; Off Stage items need table space, display time and walk-the-table judging — the two halves of a festival day that get planned very differently.
How it’s judged
Each item is scored by a panel of 3 judges. Their marks are averaged into the final score, and if two entries land on the same mark, the panel settles the tie jointly rather than falling back to a fixed rule. Judging follows one shared 100-mark criteria table per art form set out in the circular’s own annexure — for example, a Speech item is marked 20/20/15/15/15/15 across its six criteria. Only 1st, 2nd and 3rd places are recorded; there is no points-per-rank table layered on top, so a school’s overall standing is read off placings, not an accumulated score.
Honest gap worth flagging: a handful of items — clay relief, sand sculpture, pot painting, clay/paper-pulp sculpture, and “Other Dance Styles” solo — have no printed criteria table in the source circular. Don’t invent one; agree a panel sheet for these items locally before the event, the same way you would for any item that arrives without a published rubric.
The CWSN track
Kalai Thiruvizha runs a separate track for Children With Special Needs (CWSN), judged on the same items as the main festival but accepted as video submissions rather than a live-stage appearance — worth setting up as its own track in your event structure so CWSN entries aren’t mixed into the general-stream running order.
Setting this up in eTalenter
None of this needs custom development — it maps onto features eTalenter already has:
- Age Groups Setup — create the five class bands (1–2, 3–5, 6–8, 9–10, 11–12) as named age groups rather than reusing a generic LP/UP/HS/HSS set built for a different festival
- Event Levels — build the School → Cluster → Block → District → State chain, remembering Cluster only applies under classes 1–5
- Competition Categories/Items Setup — load the On Stage and Off Stage items per band, each flagged Individual or Team per the circular’s own list
- Assign Competitions to Groups — attach each item’s 100-mark criteria breakdown where the circular prints one, and leave a plain marks field for the items with no published table instead of guessing weights
- Scoring Setup — a straightforward 1st/2nd/3rd placing model, no points-per-rank layer
- Candidate Management — tag CWSN entrants separately and route them through video submission rather than a live draw slot
Because results cascade upward — school winners promoted to cluster/block, then district, then state — a sub-coordinator at each level enters the students who already qualified below, the same promotion-not-registration pattern used for any multi-level school festival.
FAQ
Is Kalai Thiruvizha the same as Kerala’s Kalolsavam?
No — they’re run by different state education departments with their own class bands, item lists and judging paperwork. The overall “promote the winner upward” shape is similar, but the specifics (class bands, item counts, criteria tables) are Tamil Nadu’s own.
Do all items carry a printed criteria table?
No. Most do, each marked out of 100 against named criteria. A small number of items (clay relief, sand sculpture, pot painting, clay/paper-pulp sculpture, “Other Dance Styles” solo) have no published table — agree a local panel sheet for these rather than inventing a scheme.
Can a school enter the same student in both Individual and Team items?
The circular lists items as Individual or Team by their own nature, matched to the item (a group dance is a Team item, a recitation is Individual) — plan entries item by item rather than assuming one blanket rule for every competition.
Run your Kalai Thiruvizha on eTalenter
eTalenter already handles the age-group, level-cascade, criteria-scoring and results-promotion mechanics a Kalai Thiruvizha needs — see our kalolsavam management software page for the underlying platform, built for exactly this kind of multi-level school arts festival.
Want to see it before committing to anything? Open a live demo and log in as a demo coordinator or judge — no sign-up needed. Questions about setting up your own festival’s class bands and item list? Message us on WhatsApp or email support@etalenter.com.
