DANCES OF KERALA

DANCES OF KERALA

“Kudiyattam” is a form of dance-drama based on mythology only performed in temples, with performances by temple servants lasting up to 20 days and featuring more than 600 codified hand gestures. Among some of the other Kerala dances are “Teyyam”, a dance form that glorifies the mother Goddess Bhagavati, Lord Shiva's consort; “Krisgnatttam”, a dance that honors Krishna; and “Padayani”, a colorful folk dance with dancers wearing large elaborate masks.

Dr. Jukka O. Miettinen of the Theatre Academy of Helsinki wrote: “Kummatti is a form of processional mask dance from the central parts of Kerala. Kummatti dances belong to the cult of Goddess Devi and different temples have their own variations of the tradition. Kummatti has the quality of a partly improvised, hilarious carnival. Everyone can participate in it since the dances do not require any special skills. The dancers’ costumes are made of bunches of hay, and they wear colourful wooden masks representing mythological characters. The masked dancers proceed from house to house collecting small donations for the temple. There is now also a children’s kummatti tradition in which children paint their faces with bright colours, and dance led by male dancers. [Source: Dr. Jukka O. Miettinen,Asian Traditional Theater and Dance website, Theatre Academy Helsinki /=/]

Trance dances are performed by young girls in Kerala. In an attempt to invoke the snake god for an early marriage young girls smeared in oil do a trance dance while a priest plays primitive violin. During the flame dance the dancer takes on the personality of a Hindu God.

See Separate Article THEATER IN KERALA

Kalaripayattu: Martial Arts Dance of Kerala

“Kalaripayatu” is a martial arts dance that may have influenced karate. Combatants fight with short sticks and five-foot-long bamboo poles and metal daggers and small round shields. Before they go after one another they are smeared with fragrant sesame oil. “Kalaripayattu” has traditionally been performed by Nayers, members of a military caste. They engaged in martial art in times of peace as a way to keep their skills up. Nayer families are matrilineal and wealth is pass from a man to his sister's children. Kathakali dance is also associated with the Nayars. Kalari indicates a “training centre” while payattu means “practices”.

Dr. Jukka O. Miettinen of the Theatre Academy of Helsinki wrote: “Kalaripayattu was originally a secret method of the Nairs, the members of the warrior caste of Kerala, and it was practised only in specific kalari buildings. Martial arts have a very long history everywhere in Asia, often extending to prehistoric times. In South India literary evidence from around A.D. 200 exists, which indicates the existence of martial arts. [Source: Dr. Jukka O. Miettinen, Asian Traditional Theater and Dance website, Theatre Academy Helsinki /=/]

“Kalaripayattu technique focuses on energetic footwork, which is executed mainly with the outer edge of the soles. It consists of kicking movements and extremely high jumping. Kalaripayattu can be divided into unarmed techniques and several armed forms. The weapons include sticks, swords, a three-bladed knife, axes, spears, and other local types of weapons. Many of the movement units of kalaripayattu are named after various animals and they clearly imitate animal movements. This is a common feature in many of the martial arts traditions in Asia. It seems to confirm the long roots of these traditions, extending back to pre-historical times, when contact with the animal world was intensively close. Through years of practice and oil massage, the body is trained to become extremely elastic, quick and powerful. Many of kalaripapayattu’s elements, particularly the stamping on the outer edge of the sole and the jumping method were adopted later by the kathakali dance-drama.” /=/

Krishnanattam, Krishna Dance of Kerala

Dr. Jukka O. Miettinen of the Theatre Academy of Helsinki wrote: “ Krishnanattam (Dance of Krishna) developed from the same tradition as kutiyattam at the turn of the 17th century. It is a full-scale form of dance-drama concentrating solely on episodes in God Krishna’s life, from his birth to his ascent into heaven. In its spirit krishnanattam is pure bhakti art as its function is to sing ecstatic praise to the Dark Lord. [Source: Dr. Jukka O. Miettinen, Asian Traditional Theater and Dance website, Theatre Academy Helsinki /=/]

“Krishnanattam differs from kutiyattam in the sense that the actors themselves do not speak. Singing is executed by two singers and thus actors can concentrate on abhinaya acting as well as on dancing, which has a much more prominent role in krishnanattam than in kutiyattam. Krishnanattam is performed only in the Guruvayur Temple and it is intended exclusively for Hindu audiences. That is why it is barely known outside Kerala. The bhakti poem Gita Govinda by the 12th century East Indian poet Jayadeva also gained enormous popularity in Kerala. It has been and still is chanted in the temples. It led to an early form of a Krishna play, asthapadiattam, which was later, at the turn of the 17th century, replaced by krishnanattam. /=/

“The creator of krishnanattam was the poet Manadevan, born at the end of the 16th century. It is said that he had a vision in which the flute-playing Krishna appeared. This led Manadevan to create his own praise to Krishna, the Krishna Geeti. Krishnanattam was favoured by the rulers of the Zamorin dynasty, which was in power for nearly 900 years beginning from the ninth century AD. After the decline of the dynasty a krishnanattam troupe was located at the Guruvayur temple in central Kerala. Only Hindus are allowed to enter the temple, which is the only place where krishnanattam is now performed.” /=/

Krishnanattam Plays and Performances

Dr. Jukka O. Miettinen of the Theatre Academy of Helsinki wrote: “The stories of krishnanattam, which cover the whole life cycle of Krishna, an avatar of God Vishnu, are based on the Bhagavata Purana, and they are always sung in Sanskrit. The episodes are performed on eight successive nights, while the opening episode, concentrating on the avatar of Vishnu, is repeated at the end of the cycle, thus forming the ninth evening in the series. In true bhakti spirit it is believed that merely witnessing a krishnanattam is a meritorious act bringing good karma to the spectator. A kutiyattam performance is also seen as an offering to Lord Krishna. [Source: Dr. Jukka O. Miettinen, Asian Traditional Theater and Dance website, Theatre Academy Helsinki /=/]

“In many respects krishnanattam reminds one of kutiyattam. The costuming, dominated by a large skirt-like lower garment, is similar in both genres, as are the gilded wooden ornaments. They also both share the local, stylised and colourful make-up system. There are, however, distinctive differences between the styles. Firstly, as mentioned above, the actors do not use their voices in krishnanattam. Two singers from among the accompanying musicians sing all the lines in the sopanam style, used for chanting the Gita Govinda in the temples of Kerala. /=/

“The novelty of krishnanattam was that the acting and the singing were separated from each other. This enabled the actors to concentrate on the abhinaya mime acting and dancing. However, the acting in krishnanattam is not as detailed as in kutiyattam. This is perhaps because krishnanattam is a form of bhakti worship, and a kind of offering, and thus not a theatre form for connoisseurs, as kutiyattam has been. One speciality of krishnanattam is that some of the characters wear masks. They may be larger than the human head, and their style is often naive and robust, even grotesque. Otherwise the outer aspects of krishnanattam are similar to those of kutiyattam, although the variety of headgear in krishnanattam is larger. /=/

“As already mentioned, dance has a more prominent role in krishnanattam than in kutiyattam. This is partly because the actors do not have to recite or sing their lines. One reason may also be that dance has a very prominent role in Krishna’s mythology. Both mimetic abhinaya and non-descriptive nrtta dance are employed. Krishna himself dances as do the milkmaids, Krishna’s beloved ones. Dance sequences in krishnanattam reflect the influence of local folk dances and underline the art forms’ emotional directness, a characteristic of bhakti art all over India.” /=/

Mohiniattam, Kerala Solo Dance

“Mohiniyattam” means the dance of the enchantress, or literally “maiden who steals the heart of an onlooker.” A semi-classical dance, it is essentially a solo dance performed only by women who depict love and devotion to God. The hero of most performances is Lord Vishnu or Lord Krishna. The movements are graceful and the costume consist mainly of a white sari and blouse The dance is performed to classical Karnatak vocal music.

Dr. Jukka O. Miettinen of the Theatre Academy of Helsinki wrote: “Mohiniattam is Kerala’s version of the soft, lasya style dance, performed most often by female dancers. Several regions of India have their own variants of this kind of Natyashastra-related “temple dances”. They were originally performed by the devadasis, or the female temple servants, who were given to the temple to be “married” to the deity of the temple. The devadasi institution is closely linked with the devotional bhakti sect of Hinduism. Mohiniattam is characterised by the gentleness of its style, by the gliding movements of the body, and by the white, gold-bordered sari-like costume of the dancers. [Source: Dr. Jukka O. Miettinen, Asian Traditional Theater and Dance website, Theatre Academy Helsinki /=/]

“Lasya-style solo dances have a long history in Kerala. After the decline of the devadasi institute, or tevidichi institution in Kerala, the old dance forms were tainted by the bad reputation of their performers. The lasya-style “temple dances” were renamed mohiniattam, “Mohini’s dance”, possibly owing to the adaptation of the Vishnu bhakti cult in Kerala in the 15th century. Mohiniattam refers to the name Vishnu assumed when he transformed himself into a female dancer. /=/

“Mohiniattam was first mentioned in literary sources in 1709. In the next century Maharaja Swati Tirunal composed dance numbers in the mohiniattam style and established mohiniattam’s status as Kerala’s classical lasya dance. During the same period mohiniattam repertoire and style were shaped according to the bharatanatyam tradition, the famous lasya style of Tamil Nadu. In fact, one of the so-called “Tanjavur brothers” or “Tanjavur Quartet”, important reformers of bharatanatya, is believed to have visited Kerala and given mohiniattam its finishing touch. In the 1930s Kerala’s national poet Vallathol chose mohiniattam to be included in the syllabus of Kerala Kalamandalam, the state performing arts academy he founded. This cemented mohiniattam’s reputation as the famous lasya dance style of Kerala.” /=/

Mohiniattam Technique and the Repertoire

Dr. Jukka O. Miettinen of the Theatre Academy of Helsinki wrote: “In many respects the technique and repertoire of mohiniattam follows those of bharatanatyam. Mohiniattam follows the instructions of the A.D. 2nd century Drama Manual, the Natyashastra, while its mudras or hand gestures are based on a later, local manual, the Hasta Lakshanadeepika. The repertoire consists of short dance numbers, both mimetic abhinaya sections and pure nrtta dances. Some of the numbers combine both of these techniques. A performance starts with a prayer and then follows an abstract invocation dance, alarippu. After that follow various numbers such as the demanding jatisvaram, usually the highlight of the performance. Various padams or mimetic abhinaya numbers are based on songs, while the performance usually ends with tillana, a virtuoso abstract dance. [Source: Dr. Jukka O. Miettinen, Asian Traditional Theater and Dance website, Theatre Academy Helsinki /=/]

“Although there is a lot in common in baharatanatyam and mohiniattam, there are also clear differences. While bharatanatyam aims at symmetry and a kind of geometric angularity of poses, mohiniattam stresses the softness and sensuality of movements. The poses tend to curve from side to side and the style has a kind of gentle, gliding quality. The torso is used circularly and half-bent positions are frequent. Thus Mohiniattam bears a clear resemblance to the dance of kathakali’s female characters. /=/

“As in most of the bhakti-related lasya dances, the focus of the sung abhinaya parts is on the hero/heroine polarity. The dancer represents the longing lover of a hero/god while this earthly love serves as a metaphor for the yearning of the human soul to be united with God. The music played with a drum, veena and cymbals is in the gentle sopanam style, a bhakti tradition typical of Kerala. The bhakti poetry is sung in local Malayalam. The dancer’s gold-bordered costume is that of a bride. In all its aspects, such as music, its hero/heroine themes, and its touching tenderness, mohiniattam represents the spirit of bhakti in its purest form.” /=/

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Text Sources: New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Times of London, Lonely Planet Guides, Library of Congress, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, Compton’s Encyclopedia, The Guardian, National Geographic, Smithsonian magazine, The New Yorker, Time, Newsweek, Reuters, AP, AFP, Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic Monthly, The Economist, Foreign Policy, Wikipedia, BBC, CNN, and various books, websites and other publications.

Last updated June 2015


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