Kathakali

Kathakali, Kerala's much celebrated dance drama, keeps the connoisseurs of art awestruck. It evolved in the 8th century from the 'Ramanattam of Kottarakkara Thampuran, an admirer and promoter of traditional art forms. The thematic vitality of Kathakali is sucked from Indian mythology and folklore. The themes are all those depicted in the epics -honesty and wickedness, frailty and courage, poverty and prosperity, war and peace.

The poetic text of the Kathakali performance is in Manipravalam, a sanskritised form of Malayalam.

While the singers vocalize scripts, the performers actually narrate the drama through movements and gestures. Preparation for the performance is extensive and disciplined. Final stage in the preparation is short meditation. The self of the artiste becomes subjugated to the essence of the character. Costumes, paint, decorated headgear help this transformation. Selection of costumes and paints depends on the nature of the character. Red for ferocious characters, soft pink for a beautiful character or a kind one.

Traditionally performance took place in temple grounds and while this is still a common venue, other open-air locales as well as indoor halls are also popular.

Characters being played by artistes can be divided into:

Pacca: the royal and divine characters such as Vishnu or Rama. Green face and large headgear.

Katti: demons and villains, instance, Ravana the evil king who abducted Sita, the legendary figure in Ramayana, the epic

Tati: red, black and white beards. the Hindu monkey god, Hanuman instrument in assisting Rama in the search for his abducted wife Sita.

Teppu: represents human beings.

Minukku: the servant class.

The performance begins with drum beating. Maddalam , the long barrel-shaped drum that is struck at both ends to achieve a resonant rhythm. The initial drumming performance may take up to two hours.

Performing Art

Ritual Art