Kerala Arts & Culture:
Kerala is a southern most state of India. Kerala can largely trace its non-prehistoric cultural genesis to its membership (around the 3rd century CE) in a vaguely-defined historical region known as Thamizhagom — a land defined by a common Tamil culture and encompassing the Chera, Chola, and Pandya kingdoms. At that time, the music, dance, language (first Dravida Bhasha — "Dravidian language" — then Tamil), and Sangam (a vast corpus of Tamil literature composed between 1,500–2,000 years ago) found in Kerala were all similar to that found in the rest of Thamizhagom (today's Tamil Nadu). Later, Keralite culture was elaborated upon by centuries of contact with overseas lands — yet all through this time, its cultural heritage remained defined by its antiquity and organic continuity.
Performing Arts:
- Kathakali :
Kathakali is a highly stylised classical Indian dance-drama noted for its attractive make-up of characters, their elaborate costumes, detailed gestures and well-defined body movements presented in tune with the anchor playback music and complementary percussion. It originated in the country's southern state of Kerala during the 16th century AD, approximately between 1555 and 1605, and has been updated over the years with improved looks, refined gestures and added themes besides more ornate singing and precise drumming.
Traditionally, a Kathakali performance is usually conducted at night and ends in early morning. Nowadays it isn't difficult to see performances as short as three hours or even lesser. Kathakali is usually performed in front of the huge Kalivilakku (kali meaning dance; vilakku meaning lamp) with its thick wick sunk till the neck in coconut oil. Traditionally, this lamp used to provide sole light when the plays used to be performed inside temples, palaces or abodes houses of nobles and aristocrats. Enactment of a play by actors takes place to the accompaniment of music (geetha) and instruments (vadya). The percussion instruments used are chenda, maddalam and, at times, edakka. In addition, the singers (the lead singer is called “ponnani” and his follower is called “singidi”) use "chengila" (gong made of bell metal, which can be struck with a wooden stick) and "ilathaalam" (a pair of cymbals). The lead singer in some sense uses the Chengala to conduct the Vadyam and Geetha components, just as a conductor uses his wand in western classical music. A distinguishing characteristic of this art form is that the actors never speak but use hand gestures, expressions and rhythmic dancing instead of dialogue (but for a couple of rare characters)
- Ottamthullal :
Ottamthullal s a type of performing art from Kerala, south India. The art form was created during the feudal era by legendary Malayalam poet Kalakkaththu Kunchan Nambiar. The story goes that Nambiar, who was playing the mizhavu for a Chakyar Koothu show, dozed off in the middle of the performance, thus inviting ridicule from the Chakyar. A humiliated Nambiar vowed to come up with an alternative art form to Chakyar koothu, and conjured up an Ottamthullal show that also made fun of prevalent socio-political equations and prejudices of the region.
Ottamthullal, over the centuries, has a (mostly) single actor, donning a green make-up and wearing colourful costumes (which once prompted Pt Jawaharlal Nehru to once remark that Ottamthullal is "poor man's Kathakali") and reciting the thullal lyrics (dance songs), all the while acting and dancing himself. The art form has of late found practitioners from among women too, and is occasionally staged as a group dance form with each artiste representing a character in the storyplay.
The art form still retains its satirical touch, and lends the artiste the freedom to improvise, more so on humour. Its incidental satire makes this art form more popular among the common man. Unlike in the case of Kathakali, the language is pretty Malayalam and the lyrics are set to rhythms that range from simple to rare and complicated.
- Koodiyattam :
Koodiyattam is a form of Sanskrit theatre traditionally performed in the state of Kerala, India. Performed in the Sanskrit language in Hindu temples, it is believed to be 2000 years old
Traditionally, Koodiyattam has been performed by Chakyars (a subcaste of Kerala Hindus) and by Nangyaramma (women of the Ambalavasi Nambiar caste). The name Koodiyattam (meaning "playing together") suggests a combined performance of Chakyar and Nangyar. The main actor is a Chakyar who performs the ritualistic Koothu and Koodiyattam inside the temple or in the Koothambalam. Chakyar women, Illotammas, are not allowed to participate. Instead, the female roles are played by Nangyaramma.
- Theyyam :
Theyyam is a popular ritual dance of northern Kerala, India, particularly presented in the Kolathunadu (of the present Kannur and Kasargod districts). As a living cult with several thousand year old traditions, ritual and custom, it embraces almost all castes and classes of Hindu religion in this region. The term Theyyam is a corrupt form of daivam or God. People of these districts consider Theyyam as a God and they seek blessings from Theyyam.
- Mohiniyattam :
Mohiniyattam is a traditional South Indian dance form from Kerala, India. It is a very graceful dance meant to be performed as a solo recital by women. The term Mohiniyattam comes from the words "Mohini" meaning a woman who enchants onlookers and "aattam" meaning graceful and sensuous body movements. The word "Mohiniyattam" literally means "dance of the enchantress". There are two stories of the Lord Vishnu disguised as a Mohini. In one, he appears as Mohini to lure the asuras (demons) away from the amrita (nectar of immortality) obtained during the churning of the palazhi or Ocean of Milk.
- Poorakkali :
Poorakkali is a traditional dance ritual performed by men during the nine-day Pooram festival in Bhagavathy temples across Northern Kerala (formerly known as Kolathunadu), south India.
The Poorakkali dance itself is performed by a troop of young men decked in lion costumes around a huge, multi-tiered, lit lamp, also known as a "nilavilukku." The dance involves masculine movements and acrobatic, martial art steps. No singers or musicians accompany the dance; instead, the dancers themselves keep rhythm by singing, clapping and executing synchronised foot-thumping movements. The dancers usually observe a month of abstinence and undergo strenuous practice before the performance. Most of the songs sung are hymns from The Ramayana or The Bhagavata.
- Kummattikali :
Kummatti Kali is the famous colorful mask-dance of Kerala, South Malabar in particular. During the festival of Onam, Kummattikali performers move from house to house collecting small gifts and entertaining people. Kummatti dances are rampant in the Thrissur district during Onam. Pristine or original form of Kummattikali can be seen in the Bhadrakali temple in Palghat district.
- Chakyar Koothu :
Chakyar Koothu is a performing art form from Kerala, south India. It is a kind of mono act and a traditional equivalent of a stand-up comedy act. However, unlike the stand-up comedy, the performer has a wider leeway in that he can heckle the audience. This highly refined art form of narrating stories from Hindu epics (such as the Ramayana and the Mahabharata) and other stories from the Puranas combined with prevailing socio-political events, are ideally performed in temples in connection with festivals by members of the Chakyar community along with Ambalavasi Nambiars. The Chakyar narrates the story based on Sanskrit champu prabandha - a mixture of prose (gadya) and poetry (shloka). The medium used is refined Malayalam along with the original Sanskrit text.
Kerala Kalamandalam
Kerala Kalamandalam is a major centre for learning Indian performing arts, especially those that developed in the southern state of Kerala. It is situated in the village of Cheruthuruthy in Thrissur district on the banks of the Bharathapuzha.
The institution, now a deemed university, was founded in 1930 by poet Vallathol Narayana Menon and Manakkulam Mukunda Raja. Kalamandalam imparts training in classical dance and theatre forms like Kathakali, Mohiniyattam, Kudiyattam, Thullal, Kuchipudi, Bharatanatyam, and Nangiar Koothu, besides the traditional orchestra called Panchavadyam. Training is also given in various percussion instruments like chenda, maddalam and mizhavu. Kalamandalam follows the gurukula sampradayam, the ancient Indian education system based on residential tutelage.
The inception of Kalamandalam gave a second life to three major classical performing arts of Kerala, as Kathakali, Kudiyattam and Mohiniyattam were, by the turn of 20th century, facing the threat of extinction under various regulations of the colonial authorities. [1] It was at this this juncture, in 1927, that Vallathol Narayana Menon and Mukunda Raja came forward and formed a society called Kerala Kalamandalam. They solicited donations from the public and conducted a lottery in order to raise funds for this society.[2]Kerala Kalamandalam was inaugurated in November 1930 at Kunnamkulam, and was later shifted to the village of Cheruthuruthy, just south of Shoranur.
Kalamandalam was conceived to provide training to its students in the Gurukula Sampradaya, an ancient tradition of residential schooling where students stayed with the teachers, sharing the same atmosphere and learning from them the nuances of the arts. Eminent masters were brought to Kalamandalam. Training sessions, which started in the morning, extended till late in the night.
Music
Kerala is a region of India, musically known for Sopanam. Sopanam is religious in nature, and developed through singing invocatory songs at the Kalam of Kali, and later inside temples. Some famous singers are Neralattu Rama Poduval, Janardhanan Nedungadiand Damodara Marar.
Kerala is also home of Carnatic music. Legends like Swati Tirunal, Shadkala Govinda Maarar, Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar, Palghat Mani Iyer, Vidwan Gopala Pillai, Chertala Gopalan Nair, M. D. Ramanathan, T. V. Gopalakrishnan, T. N. Krishnan are renowned musical exponents from Kerala.
Among the Younger generation child prodigy violin wizard L.Athira Krishna ,Carnatic Vocalist P. Unnikrishnan have made their musical impact on international arena thus keeping the regal Tradition of Carnatic Music alive.
Malayalam literature
The term Malayalam literature refers to Literature written in Malayalam language. Malayalam is the language spoken by nearly thirty million people, mainly the inhabitants of the state of Kerala and the union territory of Lakshadweep Islands in India. Malayalam is a Dravidian language and thus has close association with the other Dravidian languages, especially Tamil. Historically, Kerala had been receptive to foreign influence and this has had effect on the Malayalam literature also, which has evolved over time.