Harikatha is one of the earliest performing art forms.  It is a combination of song and story-telling which demands considerable skill from the performer. As a tribute to one of the stalwarts of Harikatha – the first ever woman performer of the art form, Chennai Fine Arts organized an event along with Narada Gana Sabha and Sunadaa Trust.

This included a series of Harikathas, discouses, and lecture demonstrations by eminent vidwans and scholars.  It was a yearlong celebration and a discourse was organized every month. 

The year-long celebration of Smt Banni Bai’s Birth Centenary concluded with a fitting valedictory function which was held on 6th February 2012.  The program began with the Bharatanatyam recital of Ms.Swarnamalya, which was dedicated to Smt. Banni Bai.  Following this, a book on Smt. Banni Bai authored by her disciple Dr. Premeela Gurumurthy and published by Chennai Fine Arts was released by Cleveland Shri Sundaram. Shri P.N. Muralidharan, Founder of CFA received the first copy.  Shri Krishnaswamy of Narada Gana Sabha presided over the function. Then the final Harikatha of the seires, Tyagaraja Vaibhavam was performed by Kalyanapuram Shri. Aravamudachar, accompanied by Dr. R. Hemalatha and Nellai Shri. Balaji.