Kathakali

As the second cultural highlight of Mantapa Prabhakara Upadhya’s 1000th Performance of Ekavyakti Yakshagana celebration we were treated with Kathakali performance by Mudrakhya of Palakkad. Mudrakhya is an organisation established to work for the cause of Kathakali & related art forms of Kerala.

Demonstration of Aangica Abhinaya

Before the actual performance Kathakali there was a lecture demonstration on the various abhinaya aspect of Kathakali by manager of Mudrakhya team K. Shashi and Sadanam Krishnadas. This demonstration helped us, who had very little knowledge about this art form to understand gestures of Kathakali.

Narakasura

It was followed by beautiful rendition of Narakasura by K.M Nandakumar Nair who has spent over 50 years practicing Kathakali.

Behind the screen

Nandakumaran born in 1945, hails from the serene village of Desamangalam. Nandkumaran learned the art of Ottanthullal during the 1954-59 under Kalamandalam Divakaran Nair & Malabar Kannan Nair, the senior instructors at the Kerala Kalamandalam, Chruthuruthy, Kerala.

Kathakali

His training in Kathakali commenced in 1963, at the PSV Natyasangham, Kottakkal, under the tutelage of Kottakkal Krishnankutty Nair. After his student days, Nandakumaran served the PSV Natyasangham as a performer and a teacher till 1998. He still continues to be a free lance performer, teacher and resource person of Kathakali.

Kathakali

Distribution of the task of elucidating emotions to the entire body is the observed uniqueness of Kathakali. This very specific technique separates Kathakali from its parallel forms like Koodiyattom & Krishnanattom. This was perfectly elucidated by Nandakumaran in Narakasura

Narakasura

Katha = Story. Kali = play. Even though it is not the rigid meaning related to theatre it is just enacting a story. The text for this purpose is referred to as Aattakkatha meaning a story written to be produced as a Kathakali.

Kathakali

Kathakali as we see today is just more than four centuries old. The popular legend behind Kathakali may be quickly reviewed to establish that there was a great revolutionary and socialistic philosophy that played into the evolution of Kathakali. Zamorin, a local chieftain in the northern Kerala was a patron of Krishnanattom, essentially a dance drama that deals only with the story of Krishna, only within the premises of Krishna-temples.

Kathakali

A local chieftain from Kottarakkara, southern Kerala, invited the Zamorin to present Krishnanattom in Kottarakkara. This was turned down by the Zamorin, with a statement that Krishnanattom is not for the unscholarly audience of southern Kerala. With a vengeance, the royal chieftain of Kottarakkara gave rise to Ramanattom. Ramanattom enacted stories from Ramayana and other epics also. In due course of time, as it began to encompass many stories, Ramanattom evolved into a medium with bigger dimension, to ‘Play any Story’ thus becoming Kathakali.

Closeup

Nanadakumaran was amply assisted in background score by A. M Ravindran and Sadanam Jothish Babu in vocals, Kalamandala jayakrishna and Krishna Praveen Poduval in Chande, Srijith Marar in Maddale.

Jump

Capturing very fine movement and expressions of Kathakali was a great challenge to me. Using two dimensional still medium like photography to depict vibrant art form of Kathakali that too on a stage cluttered with huge distracting writing in the background was really a challenge. Video would show the finer movements but how to get that in Photography. I tried in this photograph by shooting with very low shutter speed (1/25th of a second). You will notice that only the right hand of Narakasura and Chende stick are mobile in the photograph with rest of the picture are still thus conveying a very subtle movement of the artist.

Slow speed photo

Navarasas of the rain

Early rains might have evaded our town and the temperature soured to a new high. We were to experience a different form of rain in the form of Mohiniyattam. On the event of Mantapa Prabhakara Upadhya’s 1000th Performance of Ekavyakti Yakshagana celebration we were treated with an unique Mohiniyattam performance by Vinitha Nedungadi on 2nd April at Alva’s.

Varshamohini

Vinitha Nedungadi is a leading exponent of Mohiniyattam. Referred to as the dance of the enchantress, Mohiniyattam is a gracefully elegant classical dance form with lasya as the predominant element. Kerala’s native dance form Mohiniyattam, true to its name, is characterized by slow, fluid movements and poetic stances.

Bhayanaka

Vinitha is daughter of Sri. P. Narendranath, an accomplished Malayalam Writer. Karukare karmukil… by Kavalam, Poothappattu… by Edassery, translation of to Tagore’s Gitanjali by Mahakavi G etc, are some of Vinitha’s endeavors in adapting mainstream poems to Mohiniyattam. The huge success of these items became a trendsetter and inspired other dancers to look into the treasure trove of Malayalam poetry.

Hasya

Vinitha studied Bharathanatyam under reputed teacher Kalamandalam Renganayaki. Then learned Mohiniyattam under the tutelage of Ramakrishnan Nair and Kalamandalam Kshemavathy. After completing her Graduation in Commerce from M G University, She joined Kerala Kalamandalam for Masters in Mohiniyattam. You can see typical Kalamandalam style in her Mohiniyattam performances.

Adbhuta

In Varshamohini or Navarasas of the rain where Vinitha has dared to think beyond thouryathrika concept of dance and eventually proved the power and possibilities of Mohiniyattam. (The combination of nritya, vadya and geeta is known as touryathrika.) Varshamohini is a new concept in Mohiniyattam, using only instrumental music to support the dance. Even though the Sahithya (lyrics) is absent, the body language which is strictly within the traditional limits, beautifully conveys all the Rasas.

Sringara

Mohiniyattam which predominantly Sringara or Viraha Rasa dominant dance form with almost no Veera rasa. But in Navarasas of the rain Vinitha conveyed all the nine rasas equally well thus producing an endearing effect.

Veera

When the cloud is heavy with water droplets it wanders, it is carried away by the wind and on its way encounters mountain ranges. Then it gets frightened(Bhayanaka). When it is chilled, it showers down as pitter-patter raindrops and the rain seems to be extremely happy(Hasya).

Raudra

It falls on the meadows and valleys changing them wonderfully(Adbhuta). When the sun shines, rain blushes and falls in love (Sringara) with it. Some-times rain assumes the form of torrential rain (Veera) accompanied by thunder and lightning (Raudra).

Bhibatsa

At times, rain passes through sandy deserts rain expresses disgust(Bhibatsa) and then pity (Karuna). Then rain consoles the earth and assumes the bhava of serenity (Shantha).

Karunya

I used Canon EOS 5D mark II & Canon EOS 7D with both Canon EF 70-200mm f/4.0 L IS USM & Canon EF 300mm f/4.0 L IS USM lens to photograph this Mohiniyattam.

Shanta

You can check the other photos in this slide show.

Kuruthi Amma

Last Friday Manoj called me to know whether I was interested to photograph a Theyyam performance on Saturday. Even though it was working day, my family did not want to miss this unique opportunity. So in the morning we went to Chithari 5 km from Kanhangad, Kasaragod district, north Kerala where this Theyyam was held. We reached the venue at at around 11AM. Theyyam for that day had already started. We were greeted by a very enthusiastic crowd of people who welcomed us photographing the Theyyam.

Kuruthi Amma

Kuruthi Amma Theyyam

I used both Canon EOS 5D mark II with X Canon EF 70-200mm f/4.0 L IS USM and Canon EOS 7D with Canon EF 300mm f/4.0 L IS USM to photograph this Theyyam. I was using the new Dual Harness from OP/TECH which allowed me the flexibility of using both cameras simultaneously.

Kuruthi Amma Closeup

Face painting

Facial painting

For sacrifice

The Theyyam we were watching was of Kuruthi Amma and Kappalathi Amma. Both were female forms and there was not much elaborate costume or facial makeup that you see in other Theyyam dance forms. What was interesting is that the Kuruthi Amma was speaking more of Tulu mixed in Malayalam. This theyya may be from our Tulunadu. As I am ignorant of the Theyyam I do not want to hypothesize things I don’t know. But Mangalore is getting flooded with Koragajja temples at every road junction, it might be interesting to find the relation of Mangalore’s Koragajja with Chithari’s Kuruthi Ammma.

Kuruthi Amma Closeup

Kuruthi Amma Closeup

Kuruthi Amma Closeup

I also found the rituals they were performing were similar to our Bhuta Kola. So lot of similarity exists, but facial paint which is predominantly reddish as compared to predominantly yellow color of our Bhuta Kola. I was also able to photograph the sacrifice of the hen to the Theyya. What was most interesting is that the devotee were 99% women with hardly any men folk around. All came at the end of the performance to recive blessing from the Theyya.

Blessing the Sacrifice

Sacrificial Chicken

Kappalathi Amma in Trance

Kappalathi Amma in Trance

Kappalathi Amma After Sacrifice

What was more interesting for me was the nearby back water. In between two Theyyams I visited this backwater which was full of jellyfish details of which I will post in my next blog..