A Report on Kathakali

This report is based on the Kathakali class conducted for the First year B.Ed students as part of the Art and Aesthetic Education. The class was conducted on 24 August, 2017 in the college auditorium. The class was handled by Sri Kalamandalam Rajeev who is a renowned Kathakali artist throughout Kerala. He has practiced Kathakali under various masters and has received several prizes and awards including Guru Gopinath Award, Guru Kunchukurup Award,  A. D. Bolland Medal, Calcutta International Award etc.

Kathakali is an important genre in the Indian classical dance form and is associated with storytelling form of this art. The term ‘Kathakali’ comes from ‘Katha’ which means ‘story’, or a conversation or a traditional tale’ and ‘Kali’ which means ‘performance and art’. It is structured around plays called ‘Attakatha’, written in Sankritized Malayalam. Traditionally, a Kathakali performance is long, starting at dusk and continuing through dawn, with interludes and breaks for the performers and audience. Some plays continued over several nights, starting at dusk every day. Modern performances are shorter. The stage with seating typically in open grounds outside a temple, but in some places, special theatres called ‘Kuttampalam’ built inside the temple compounds have been in use. Of all the Indian classical dance forms, Kathakali has the most elaborate costuming consisting of head dresses, face masks and vividly painted faces. It typically takes several long hours to prepare a Kathakali troupe to get ready for a play. The makeup follows an accepted code that helps the audience easily identify the archetypical characters such as gods, goddesses, evil characters, animals and other characters of a story. Seven basic makeup types are used in Kathakali, namely ‘Pacha’ (green), ‘Pazhupp’ (ripe), ‘Kathi’ (knife), ‘Kari’, ‘Thaadi’, ‘Minukku’ and ‘Teppu’. These vary with the styles and the predominant colours made from rice paste and vegetable colours that are applied on the face. Sri Kalamandalam Rajeev’s expertise is in Pacha characters.

Kathakali is said to be one of the most difficult styles to execute on stage as acting has an important role in it. The actors speak a ‘sign language’, where the word part of the charcter’s dialogue are expressed through “hand signs” (mudras), while emotions and moods are expressed through “facial and eye” movements. Several ancient Sanskrit texts such as “Natya Shastra”and “Hastha Lakshnadeepika” discuss hand gestures or mudras. Kathakali follows the “Hastha Lakshnadeepika” most closely, unlike other classical dances of India. Each actor masters these mudras and expressions for right conveyance of the emotion. The main 24 mudras are :

1. Pathaka                                                       13) Mukuram
2. Mudraakyam                                               14) Bramaram
3. Khadakam                                                   15) Suchikamukham
4. Mushti                                                         16) Pallavam
5. Kartharimukham                                         17) Thripathaka
6. Shukhathundam                                          18) Mrigasheersham
7. Kavithakam                                                 19) Sarpashiras
8. Hamsapaksham                                           20) Vardhamanakam
9. Shikharam                                                    21) Araalam
10. Hamsasyam                                                 22) Oornanabam
11. Anjali                                                          23) Mukulam
12. Ardhachandram                                          24) Khadakamugam

There are nine facial expressions called ‘Navarasas’ and numerous minor mudras in Kathakali. Kalamandalam Rajeev Sir wonderfully explained these mudras in detail.

A Kathakali performance typically starts with artists tuning their instruments and warming up with beats, signaling to the arriving audience that the artists are getting ready and the preparations are on. A series of performances comes in the sequential order. First is the ‘Totayam’ and ‘Purapattu’ performances which are preliminary ‘pure’ dances that emphasize skill and pure motion. The expressive part of the performance, which constitutes the dance-drama, is split into four types: ‘Kalasam’, ‘Iratti’, ‘Tonkaram’ and ‘Nalamiratti’. The play is in the form of verses that are metered and lyrical, sung by vocalists whose voice has been trained to various melodies (raga), music and synchronized with the dance-acting on the stage. Three types of drums used in Kathakali are Maddalam, Chenda and Idakka. Kalamandalam Rajeev Sir concluded his class with a small performance of the Kathakali act which was the highlight of the session.

On the whole, the class was very interesting and it helped the students to understand and enjoy Kathakali as one among the elite Classical art forms of India.