Kalarippayatt

Kalarippayatt is a martial art originating and practiced in Kerala. It incorporates strikes, kicks, grappling, martial dance and weaponry as well as healing techniques. Regional variances of the Kalarippayattu are classified into Northern, Southern and Central styles.

The term Kalarippayatt is formed from the words “kalari” meaning school or gymnasium and payattu meaning to fight or to exercise.

Kalarippayatt may be one of the oldest martial arts in existence. Masters of Kalarippayattu are known as “Asaan or Gurukkal.

Northern Kalarippayatt (practiced mainly in the northern Malabar region of Kozhikode and Kannur) places comparatively more emphasis on weapons than on empty hands. Northern Kalarippayatt is distinguished by its meippayattu (physical training and use of full-body oil massage) to increase the practitioner’s flexibility and to treat muscle injuries incurred during practice. The term for such massages is thirummal and the massage specifically for physical flexibility chavutti thirummal (massage using feet pressure over the entire body).

In southern styles of Kalarippayatt (practiced mainly in old Travancore including the present Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu), practice and fighting techniques emphasize empty hands and applications.

The central style (practiced mainly in Thrissur, Malappuram, Palakkad and certain parts of Ernakulam districts is a composite from both the northern and southern styles that includes northern meippayattu preliminary exercises, southern emphasis on empty-hand techniques and its own distinctive techniques.

Weapons used in Kalarippayatt are Long Staff, Medium Stick, Long Stick, Flexible Sword, Short Stick, Curved Stick, Club or

Mace, Knife or Dagger, Machete or Kukri, Short Sword, Long Sword, Round Shield Spear etc.

It is claimed that learned persons can disable or kill their opponents by a mere touch in a Marmam (vulnerable parts of the human body). Marmam is taught only to the promising and levelheaded persons to forbid misuse of the technique.

Influence of kalarippayatt can be seen in major classical art forms of Kerala, mainly Kathakali.

Watch the video of Kalarippayatt...

Koothu

Chakyar Koothu is a performing art form of Kerala. It is a solo narrative performance interspersed with mime and comic interludes. However, unlike the stand-up comic, the performer has a wider leeway in that he can heckle the audience. This highly refined art form narrating stories from Hindu epics like Ramayana, Mahabharata and Puranas ( belonging to ancient times), combined with prevailing socio-political events, were originally performed in temples by members of Chakyar community along with Ambalavasi Nambiars. Chakyar narrates the story based on Sanskrit “champu prabandha” - mixture of prose and poetry. The medium used is refined Malayalam along with the original Sanskrit text.

In Chakyar koothu, facial expressions are important rather than choreography. Traditionally it was performed in Koothambalam, a place specially designed to perform Kutiyattam and Chakyar Koothu, inside a Hindu temple. The performer begins with a prayer to the deity of the temple. He then goes on to narrate a verse in Sanskrit before explaining it in Malayalam. The narration that follows touches upon social factors and various current events with great wit and humor.

A mizhav (A big percussion instrument made of copper) and a pair of cymbals are the only instruments accompany the performance.

Chakyar Koothu was performed only in Koothambalams of Hindu temples. Natyacharya Vidushakaratnam Padma Shri Guru Maani Madhava Chakyar a visionary and virtuoso of this art took Koothu and Koodiyattam outside the temples to the common people. He is considered as the greatest Chakyar Koothu and Kutiyattam artist of modern times.

He performed Chakyar Koothu for All India Radio and Doordarshan for the first time, which popularized this traditional art form among the common man.

Nangyar Koothu is a traditional art form performed by the women of the Ambalavasi Nambiar community of Kerala, known as Nangyaramma. Nangiarkoothu, an offshoot of Kutiyattam, is a solo performance with an antiquity of 1500 years. Nangiar koothu is the sole domain of female artistes.

The stories for the performance are taken from the text Sree Krishna Charitam, depicting the life of Hindu God Krishna. During the performance the actress presents the long-winded stories of Lord Krishna through facial expressions, hand gestures and body movements with the accompaniment of holy drum Mizhavu.

Koodiyattam or Kutiyattam

Koodiyattam, a Traditional art form of Kerala, performed in the Sanskrit language in Hindu temples, it is believed to be at 2000 years old. It is officially recognized by UNESCO as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.

The meaning of Koodiyattam is combined acting, a combined performance of Chakyar (a community in Kerala) and Nangyar (the women of Ambalavasi Nambiar Caste). The main actor is a Chakyar who performs the ritualistic Koothu and Kutiyattam inside the temple or in the Koothambalam. The female roles are played by Nangyar.

Traditionally the main musical instruments used in Koodiyattam are Mizhavu, Kuzhitalam, Etakka, Kurumkuzhal and Sankhu.Mizhavu, the most prominent of these is a percussion instrument which is played by a person of the Ambalavas Nambiar caste accompanied by Nangyaramma playing the kuzhithalam (a type of cymbal).

In 1955 Guru Maani Madhava Chakyar performed Koodiyattam outside the temple for the first time. For performing the art forms outside the temples he faced lot of problems from the Chakyar community.

The performance of the maestro Maani Maadhava Chakyar made great impact on the people and art critics so that Koodiyattam and Mani Madhava Chakyar became famous outside Kerala also. He performed Koodiyattam all over India and popularized the traditional art form.

Watch the video....

Theyyam

The Theyyam or Theyyattam is a popular ritual art form of north Kerala particularly presented in the Kannur and Kasargod districts. As a living cult with centuries old traditions, ritual and custom, it embraces all castes and classes of Hindu religion. The term Theyyam is a corrupt form of Daivam (God). It is a rare combination of dance and music and reflects important features of a tribal culture. People here consider Theyyam as a God and they seek blessings from Theyyam.

The Theyyam dance is generally performed in front of the village shrines. It is also performed in the houses as ancestor worship.

Theyyam performs with elaborate make-up and costumes. There are different patterns of face painting for different types of theyyams. All dancers take a shield and sword in their hands.

Theyyam Dancer performs different steps repeated systematically, circumambulates the shrine and runs in the courtyard dances. Theyyam is accompanied by folk musical instruments like chenda, tudi, kuzhal and veekni are played with rhythm and recitation of the ritual songs describes the myths and legends of the particular diety.

Watch the video of Theyyam...

Ottamthullal

Ottamthullal is a performing art of Kerala. The great malayalam poet Kunjan Nambiar created Ottamthullal as an alternative of Chakyar koothu (performing art of Kerala) and is known as poor man's Kathakali.

Ottam thullal is replete with humour, sarcasm and social criticism. The actor establishes powerful communication with spectators through verbal acting which is interspersed with humour and social references. Ottamthullal became popular because of its simplicity and it is easily understandable comparing to Kathakali for ordinary people. The stories from hindu epics are retold in simple malayalam poetry.

Ottamthullal is a solo performance. The performer will act and dance while singing thullal poems. Simple costumes similar to Kathakali and percussion instruments like Mizhav(a big drum made of copper) and cymbal are used.

Kerala kalamandalam, founded by the great poet vallathol narayana menon, intended to promote kerala arts offers course in Ottamthullal.

Watch the video clip of Ottam thullal.....

Mohiniyattam

Mohiniyattam is the classical dance form of Kerala, performed by women. Literarily, Mohiniyattam means the dance of enchantress. The slow, soft and graceful movements, expressions, the traditional costumes etc. of this classical dance, really enchants the spectators.

Mohiniyattam has the influences and elements from other dance forms like koothu, koodiyattam, Bharatanatyam, Kathakali etc.

In Mohiniyattam, more importance is given for gestural and facial expressions. The hand gestures used are almost same as in Kathakali.

The costumes used by Mohiniyattam artists are cream or off-white colour sari with golden borders, Gold ornaments and a traditonal hairstyle includes white colour floweres.

The song of mohiniyattam are based on carnatic music and the language used is Manipravalam (a mix of Malayalam and Sanskrit). Instruments used are veena, flute, maddalam, edakka etc.

Watch the video of famous Malayalam film actress Divya unni's Mohiniyattam performance.....

Sarppam thullal

Kalamezhuthu pattu

"Kalamezhuthu" is a ritual art of Hindus in Kerala. Kalamezhuthu is performed inside and outside the Temple to worship the deity. In Kalamezhuthu the amazing thing to see is the colourful and artistic portrait of the deity made on the floor using natural powders in different colours. The style of Kalamezhuthu may vary depending upon different communities, the Deity which they worship and the purpose of the Kalamezhuthu. In malayalam Kalamezhuthu means drawing.

After the completion of Kalamezhuthu a song praising god would be performed accompanied with traditional musical instruments of Kerala.

I have collection of more than 70 pictures of Kalamezhuthu...

Below I'm showing a few of them..

Nanthuni - A musical instrument using in "Kalamezhuthu paattu"

Kathakali

Kathakali is an Indian classical dance-drama, originated in Kerala. Kathakali is one of the most famous performing arts of India and has popularity all over the world.

Kathakali originated from Ramanattam and Krishnanattam(Classical arts of Kerala) in 17th century and several folk, ritual and classical arts forms of Kerala have exerted influence in the development of Kathakali.

The speciality of Kathakali is, the Kathakali actor enacts different characters in Kathakali using stylised hand gusters, facial expressions and body movements accompanied with vocal and instrumental music. The make-up and elaborate costumes of Kathakali are unique and marvellous.

Traditional Kathakali stories are from the Hindu epics, Mahabharatham and Ramayanam. Recently stories from other cultures like story of Mary Magdalene from Bible, Homer's The Iliad and Shakespeare's King Lear have also been adapted into Kathakali scripts. Kathakali stories are written to play a whole night. But nowadays 2-4 hour lasting shorten versions are more popular.
Characters in Kathakali are categorized according to their nature. This decides the colours used in the make-up of the artist.

To attain the high flexibility and muscle control required for this art form, a Kathakali dancer undergoes a special course of training and special types of body massage.

Language used in Kathakali music is a mix of Sanskrit and Malayalam called Manipravalam. The Kathakali songs are composed in Carnatic Music. Percussion Instruments like Chenda, chengala, Idakka, Maddalam and ilathalam are used in Kathakali.

Kathakali is usually performed in front of Kalivilakku(lamp) and the traditional Thiraseela(curtain) is used during Kathakali play.

The pictures shown above are the "Vesham"s of one of my friends Mr. Muralidharan M.N(Kathakali artist) , P.S.V Natya sangham, Kottakkal, Kerala.

ant to know more about Kathakali? click here