Author: IKKF

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Nangiarkoothu is a women only theatre that closely follows the contours of Koodiyattam. In Nangiarkoothu, a single female actor narrates, portraying different characters from a layered perspective that is unique to Indian classical theater. More often than not, narratives are taken from the childhood tales of Krishna. Govardhanodharanam (lifting of mount Govardhana) is a popular narrative from the Vaishanvite text Bhagavatham. Indra, the King of Gods pits his might against Krishna, and comes out humbled. Krishna,manifest as an ordinary herdsman, performs the extraordinary feat of lifting a mountain and using it as a shield against the fury of thunder and…

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First half of nineteenth century was the golden age not just for Kathakali, it was the time when music and dance traditions of the littoral state flourished. It was the age of Swathi Thirunal, and his court poet Irayimman Thampi. Elsewhere in the Indian peninsula, it was also the age of the Carnatic trinity and Thanjavur quartet. Like his patron, Irayimman Thampi too was a multifaceted genius. Kathakali owes him three delectable plays. Dakshayagam, one of the central narrative of Saivism, was adapted by Thampi into a beautiful play. Daksha begins as a romantic hero in the play but eventually…

Unnayi Warrier stands tall among the Kathakali playwrights. His magnum opus, Nalacharitam is the closest a Kathakali play comes to exquisite poetry. So much so that literattis often insist that Unnayi intended his work to be read and not enacted! Nalacharitam is divided into four parts, each meant to be enacted over a night. The second part (Randam Divasam) is considered the most dramatic for the range of emotions and characters it portrays. Nala, the hero and his wife Damayanthi have their lives wrecked by the wrath of the antagonist, Kali. The tribulations they face and their eventual separation forms…

Like most classical art forms of India, Kathakali too owes much to the Bhakti movement in its origin and evolution. Bhakti movement had two major threads, Saivism and Vaishnavism which ran concurrently for centuries. Kiratham, written by Irattakulangala Rama Warrier, in 18th century is based on a tale from Mahabharatha, one of the several where Saivism and Vaishnavism reconciles with each other. Arjuna the warrior and Siva the Lord, have equal prominence in this narration. Siva and his consort Parvathy manifest as tribal hunters (Kirathas) in this tale. Their quest is to test and eventually bless Arjuna, who is worshipping…

Kathakali adapted the Koodiyattam tradition of putting the onus of romance on the anti-hero. Romantic interludes (Pathinja Padam) set to a slow tempo are one of the most important theatrical aspects of Kathakali, and requires consummate skill by the actor and quality accompaniment to be pulled off delightfully. While the heroes have romantic interludes set in some of the plays, they cannot match the splendor and charm the anti-heroes bring to their sequences. Such romantic sequences became so significant in the theater of Kathakali that in some plays, they become the essence of the whole play and the hero does…

This play traces its origin to the genesis of Kathakali, when the King of Kottarakkara penned eight plays based on the epic Ramayana, and synthesized a dance-drama called Ramanattam to enact his work on stage. Ramanattam eventually polished its theater aspects and became Kathakali, and Thoranayudham is a classic example of this evolution. Hanuman, the monkey warrior, is the hero of this play. He is on a divine mission to find the whereabouts of Sita, the heroine of the epic. As the theater of Kathakali evolved, the anti-hero gained more prominence than protagonists. Thoranayudham was one of the first plays…