margi sathi-kutiyattam artiste
That was a sarcastic smile. Experts say in Kutiyattam this is a challenging one for any artiste. Margi Sathi renowned Kutiyattam artiste performed with perfection at Fort Margi while staging “Agnipravesankam.”
“Why is she laughing like that”- wondered Sugrivan? Is it because she had spent such a long period in the custody of Ravana and had gained audacity? Or is it because she is a chaste woman?
Earlier the show began with the purappd of Sita who is in a dilemma. She was kidnapped by Ravana and airlifted to Lanka. She was concerned about the people’s opinion and Rama’s attitude towards her. In deep sorrow she approaches Rama. When she presents herself before Rama she looked elegant. That was the result of the boon by Ausuya, which Rama was unaware of. So he suspects her, and remarks of the people add his suspicion. Agni pravesam was suggested. She escapes unhurt.
People call her “pumchali.” She could not tolerate the insult. Suddenly she gains mental strength and laughs sarcastically, which has many connotations.
Margi Sathi-now working as a tutor at Kerala Kalamandalam was in the city recently, to perform Kutiyattam (“Agnipravesam” from Aschraya chudamani) at Fort Margi.
She was thrilled for she was invited by Kamala Surayya before the latter left for Pune.
“I love Kamala Surayya for she resembled my mother, who passed away nine years ago. I have not met Kamala Surayya before. When she expressed her desire to meet me, I was so thrilled. When she passionately held my hands together, I could feel the invisible presence of my mother. Though the writer intended to finish our meeting with in half an hour it went on for four hours. The past two years had been a bad time for me. In those days I desired the proximity of my loving mother. When I met Kamala I could feel it” said Sathi.
“She gifted this chain of beads (presented to her by Sandeep Chaitanya) and a kasavu set mundu. I have nothing to give her except for the book Sree Rama Charitham authored by me. She held that book close to her bosom and wept” reminisce Sathi.
How is the new role of teaching at Kalamandalam?
“I am a product of Kalamandalam. It was Margi that made me what I am today and I became Margi Sathi. The problem is we seldom get opportunities to perform-which is essential for any artiste to develop the talents and exploit the potentials. I have to abide the rules of Kalamandalam. It is the best place for doing research. Plenty of materials are available. I have to make use of those facilities” she said.
KOOTIYATTAM-THE MOST ANCIENT SANSKRIT THEATRE
KOOTIYATTAM:-
It is a unique temple art of Kerala and is the only surviving form of Sanskrit drama. The performance is confined to temple theatres known as koothambalams. The performers belong to the communities of chakkyars and nambiars. The chakkiars are the actors and the female members of the nambiar community undertake the female roles. Mizhavu is the accompanying instrument besides edakka, and kuzhithalam.
The plays:-
They belong to the Sanskrit series of Thiruvananthapuram-namely, those of Bhasa, kulasekhara Varman, sree harshan, Mahendra Vikrama Pallavan, Bodhayanan, apart from Aschary choodamani by Sakthi Bhadran.
Presentation:-
The Kootiyattam presented today was choreographed ten centuries ago by King Kulasekhara Varman with the assistance of Tholan. The presentation was highly stylized in Aharya Abhinaya (make-up, costume, and scenic spectacle) Angika Abhinaya (gesture) and Vachika Abhinaya (oral rendering).
In angika abhinaya the haasthamudras are liberally used, which are not totally or faithfully adapted from Natysastra or other texts in Hindu dramaturgy. The mudras are adapted from Hasthalakshanadeepika which draws from the Tantric mudras prevalent in Kerala. The charis, gatis and the movements of the angas and the upangas also do not follow Natyasastra.
In aharya the make up and costume do not copy the external features of the characters. It is symbolic. There is no typifying of characters as in Kathakali.
In Vachika ABHINAYA, THE TEXT OF THE SANSKRIT drama is rendered by the actor in intonations reminding us of the Yajur vedic chantings of the Nampoothiri brahmins. There is no attempt at making the speeches naturalistic. Even the ragas (they are called swaras in kootiyattam) do not have the solfa symbols of music.
Kootiyattam are never presented in full. It is elaborate and time consuming. It is played in parts. Swapana vasava datha is played as six different performances-each one called an anka. In Prathinga Nataka there is one anka called Mantrankam which requires 41 days to perform. There will be an oral exposition of the vidhushaka. Anguliyankam of Ascharya chudamani lasts for 12 full days. It tells the story of Ramayana including Vanarolpathi, by Hanuman by hand gestures alone.
Since one anka is performed at one time there a prelude to the performance called Nirvahana. Here one of the characters sums up the story presented in earlier acts. This takes many days and if this nirvahana is rendered by vidhushaka, it is an oral exposition. Other characters use only hand gestures for this.
There are plays in which Vidhushaka palys a dominant role-first act of subhadradhananjayam and Tapatisanvaranam. Here the emphasis is on the Vachika Abhinaya.
The slokas are enacted in such a way that the hidden meanings of the slokas are explained. For example, in Abhishekanataka, in Thorana Yudha, there is a sloka in which Ravana speculates that the reason for the attack of monkeys is due to the disrespect shown to him to Nandikeswara. The actor describes in detail the war between Ravana and Devas. Then the preparations of the war, the triumphant journey, description of Lanka, the blocking of pushpaka vimana by mount kailas, the features of the mount, the fight between Parvathi and Siva. The angika abhinaya takes three to four hours.
This seems tedious to an indifferent audience. For entertainment the vidhushaka spices it with humor and vulgarity. He expounds the four purusharthas (the four ultimate attainments in human life)-Rajaseva, aSanam(greedy enjoyment of food)Vinodam (sexual enjoyment with prostitute) and Vanchanam (betrayal). It is interpreted in place of Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha.
(To be continued)
The Nangiars:-
The female members of the Nambiars are the nangiars, who have chosen the profession of dancing, acting and singing. Their spouses accompanied them on the mizhavu or edakka. The contribution of nangiars and nambiars to Kutiyattam is immense.
As said earlier, kootu and kootiyattam are practiced by chakkyars of Kerala. It was Kulasekhara Perumal who laid a strong foundation to this art form. He was a great connoisseur and one of the scholars of his court, a manual explaining the presentational aspects of his plays. Thus vyngya vakhya was composed.
Perumal introduced Nangiar into kootiyattam. They essayed the female roles along with the Nambiars and later solo performances of nangiars too developed which is called Nangiarkoothu. It is always the Nambiar who played the mizhavu. Thus the nangiars performed the female roles, with the chakkiyars (kootiyattam), performed nangiarkoothu and rendered songs and maintained tala with cymbals (kuzhithalam).
The chakkyars, wear upanayanam and they perform sandya while the nambiars don’t. If any nampoothiri woman is made an outcaste, her sons cane be made into chakkyars, and her daughters nangiars.
Duties of Nambiars:--. They play mizhavu. They help in the green room. He has to recite “arangu thaLi” just before the play. Certain plays are tough language wise. Nambiars translate them in the vernacular language (which was then Tamil) and it is called Nambiar Tamil.
Yet another role of Nambiars is the performance of Padhakam. They narrate stories on the basis of Chambu-s in Malayalam. He wears a special head gear called mudi. In olden days the nambiars is asked to perform Padhakam in the temple of ThaLi in calicut. If he passed the test he is entitled to wear the mudi.
Padhakam is different from Chakkyar koothu (Prabhanda koothu). Mizhavu is essential for the prabhanda koothu. The chakkyar has the liberty to make sarcastic remarks on anything under the sun. He passes comments at the audience. This liberty is not provided for the Nambiars while performing Padhakam.
One who recited Padhakam is a Padhakan. The Nambiars who play mizhavu are called Panivadan. Kunchan Nambiar the legendary poet who invented Thullal, was a panivadhan.
(To be continued)
PANCHA PANDAVA'S WARDROBE!!
Meet Surendra designer of a different kind-he has been designing “wardrobe” for the Pancha Pandavas (No less) for the several years. Come the Painkuni festival in the Padmanabha Swami temple, it is hectic time for Surendran who stitches the costume for the Pandavas. They are no ultra-modern costumes-but a simple paavada and chatta. It is the quantity of clothes required for making these costumes that makes one wonder struck!
Says Surendran, “I am an employee of Ananthasree Arts and Crafts near the flight of steps in the eastern entrance of the temple. Here I design nettipattam and thidambu for elephants carved in wood. But basically I am a tailor and our family runs a tailoring unit in Pravachambalam. That is how I happened to design costumes for the Pandavas.”
Could you tell us about the quantity of cloth used for these effigies?
“Though Bhima is very tall, the effigy of Dharmaputra in the sitting posture demands 60 mts of cloth. Bhima requires 45 mts, Arjuna 20 mts Nakula 18 mts and Sahadeva 15 mts. Red polyester cloth is used. Yellow satin bands are used on the waist, on the sleeves and in the seams of the paavada. 25 spools of red and 6 spools of yellow thread were employed. (The biggest spools available in the market). Cuttings were required for the neck and arm whole. First I made pieces of the dimension 45”x2.5 mts. These pieces were joined later. 12 such pieces were used for the Bhiman paavada. For Nakulan and Sahadevan there is no separate paavada and chatta. It is a single piece, costume from top to bottom with joints at the waist akin to petticoats. The sleeves of the chatta are fastened to the effigy with knots, and buttons, hooks, Velcro, or zips are not used” explained Surendran.
How are these giants erected?
“Before installation paalpayasam for Sree Padmanabha and vadamala for the Hanuman are offered. Once Chandran a worker had a fall while installing the effigy of Bhima and since then he is called Bhiman Chnadran. The workers then decided to make some offerings to the deities to prevent untoward incidents as this. We had the statue of Gaurda Jadayu and Sree Krishna and Gopikas beneath a fig” they are damaged and hence are not displayed” said Satheesh, the owner of Anathasree Crafts work.
Earlier effigies were made of wood and were too heavy to lift. But they had finely decorated faces with bulging eyes, and colorful head gear. Their long red robes are decked with chains of beads. They all have long tresses and nails. Yudhishtira alone is installed in the sitting posture with his right leg on his left thigh. The giant Bhima holds an ornamental mace and the others with a medium sized clubs. Time had its effect on them. So the trust decided to make effigies in fiber glass. They weigh less and are easy to install. Installation is executed at dawn and is continued till 10 am and is restarted in the evening” said Parameswaran Nair…..Installation begins from the youngest member. However the effigy of Bhima is erected only towards the end. In those days Bhiman Kanji was prepared and distributed as soon as the installation is complete. Another striking feature is that once the effigy is taken out and installed nature pays its respect and there will be a drizzle” recollects Satheesh.
In front these effigies the unique war dance of Kerala –velakali was performed twice daily after the seeveli. More than a hundred men symbolically enact the battle of kurushetra, and accept defeat and fly in disorder. Their colorful make up is akin to the battle uniform of ancient Kerala. They wear a loin up to the ankles which is held in position by a strip of white cloth. Their bare chest is adorned with colorful beads and shells and the performer cover their heads with laced red turbans with a protruding knot at the left. They hold a shield and a stick.
They march along with rhythmic movements. A band of drums and bugles lead the battalion. Spectators gather at the flight of steps at the eastern entrance of the temple, and watch the Kaurava pada attacking their enemies.
Though the ten days long impressive temple festival and the installation of the effigies of the Pandavas continue Velakali remains as a colorful memory in the minds of the old timers.
Box III The ulsavam which lasts for ten days begins with the kodiyettu-the hoisting of the God’s Flag and concludes with Aarat procession. During these days the Gods are escorted by His Highness Uthradom Tirunal Marthanda Varma with the entire paraphernalia of the temple and the State.
The ulsava vigrahams of Sree Padmanabha, Sree Krishna, and Sree Narasimha are elaborately decorated and seated in vahanams made of gold and silver. Their marvelous intricacy and design are an eloquent testimony to the art and craftsmanship, of an ancient era. The idols are lavishly decorated with colorful silk fresh flowers.
The procession is lead by an elegantly caparisoned elephant, followed by men carrying the God’s flags, umbrellas, and other emblems of divinity. Clad in traditional temple costume His Highness with drawn sword comes next followed by the heir apparent and other male members of the family. The idols are carried by the temple in the rear. Immediately ahead of the idols walk the temple musicians playing melodiously on the thimiri nagaswaram. A group of vocalist accompanied by violin and mridangam rendering ulsava prabandam follow the vahanams.
