P.J.
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கிருஷ்ண ஆட்டம்!---வேண்டுதல்களும் பலன்களும
கிருஷ்ண ஆட்டம்!---வேண்டுதல்களும் பலன்களும்.
கிருஷ்ண ஆட்டம்!
குருவாயூர் கோயிலில் தினமும் ராத்திரி பத்து மணிக்கு ‘கிருஷ்ணஆட்டம்’ களி என்று ஒரு கலை நடந்துவருகிறது. கதகளி, மோஹினியாட்டம் போல் இதுவும் பிரபலமான கதை நாட்டியம்.
இதில் ஸ்ரீகிருஷ்ணாவதாரம்,
காளியமர்த்தனம்,
ராஸக்ரீடை,
கம்ஸவதம்,
ஸ்வயம்வரம்
என்று எட்டுநாள் கதகளி ஆடி அவதரிப்பார்கள். பக்தர்கள் பணம் கட்டி நடத்தினால், அவர்களது வேண்டுதல்கள் நிச்சயமாகப் பலிக்கும். குருவாயூரில் இது பிரபலமான நேர்ச்சையாகும்.
ஸ்ரீகிருஷ்ணாவதாரம்:- சந்தான சௌபாக்கியம், பாலாரிஷ்டம் நிவாரணம், பாலபயம், பாலகேஷமம்
காளியமர்த்தனம்:- விஷபாதசமனம், சத்ருநாசம், ஸர்ப்பதோஷம் பரிகாரம், ரோகசமனம்
ராஸக்ரீடை:- கன்யகாகேஷமம், ஐஸ்வர்யம், ப்ரணயவிரஹம்.
கம்ஸவதம்:- சத்ருநாசம், பூர்விக சம்பத்து ஸ்தானம், கோர்ட்விவகாரம், கீர்த்தி தனலாபம்.
ஸ்வயம்வரம்:- மாங்கல்யபாக்கியம், கல்யாணத்தடை, தாம்பத்திய சௌக்கியம், வித்யாவிஜயம், அபவாத பரிகாரம்
பாணயுத்தம்:- கர்மவிஜயம், கார்யலாபம், சைவ-வைணவ ப்ரீதி, பிரேம ஸாபல்யம்
விவிதவதம்:- விவசாயம், நிலபுலன் மேம் பாடு, பீதிநாசம், செல்வம்
ஸ்வர்க்ககாரோஹணம்:- சந்தானதோஷ பரிகாரம், மரணபயம், ஆத்ம சுகம், மோட் சப்ராப்தி, விரஹதுக்கம், கஷ்ட நிவர்த்தி.
குருவாயூர் கோயிலில் இந்தக் கலை நிகழ்ச்சி நடத்த வேண்டுமென்றால் ஒரு கதைக்கு ரூபாய் 2000/- ஆகும். குருவாயூரப்பனுக்கு இது ரொம்பப் பிடித்த கலையாகும்.
குருவாயூரப்பனைக் குழந்தையாகப் பல தடவை நேரில் பார்த்துப் பேசியவர் ஸ்ரீ வில்வ மங்கலம் ஸ்வாமி. அவரது அனுக்கிரஹத்தால் கிருஷ்ண பக்தனான கோழிக்கோடு ராஜாவான மானவேதனுக்கு ஒருநாள் ஸ்ரீகிருஷ்ண தரிசனம் கிடைத்தது. அப்போது ராஜா தன்னையே மறந்து பகவானை அப்படியே கட்டிப் பிடித்துக்கொள்ள, பகவான் திருமுடியிலிருந்து ஒரு மயில் பீலி உதிர்ந்து விழுந்தது.
ராஜா அதையே மூலமாகக் கொண்டு தான் கிருஷ்ணன் பிறப்பிலிருந்து, சுவர்க்கம் சென்றதுவரை, எல்லா லீலைகளையும் ‘கிருஷ்ண கீதி’ என்று வடமொழிக் காவியமாக்கி ஸ்ரீ குருவாயூரப்பனுக்கு சமர்ப்பித்தார். அதுதான் ‘கிருஷ்ண ஆட்டம் களி’ என்று பிரபலமானதாக ஐதிகம்.
குருவாயூரப்பன் இன்றும் கிருஷ்ணஆட்டம் பார்க்க வருகிறார் என்று சொல்கிறார்கள்.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bwTT8CQlkU
This is the temple dancers from the famous Guruvayur Sree Krishna Temple in Guruvayur performing Krishnanattam during Revathi Pattathanam celebrations at Zaorin's School near Tali temple in calicut on 11 November 2008
Source:Sage of Kanchi
Hindukkalin Prasad
A Krishnanattam performance is basically different from Kathakali, which uses hand and facial gestures and follows padartha abhinaya, the literal interpretation of the verses. Krishnanattam is more dance-oriented with intricate and aesthetic patterns. There is an old saying that to appreciate Kathakali one has to observe the actor’s face and for Krishnanattam the audience must carefully watch the actor’s footsteps. This speaks volumes about the peculiarities of the two forms.
And now that we have exhausted the legend behind krishnattam, the divine art form or offering to the lord of Guruvayoor, we get to the even more interesting legend behind the origin of Kathakali.
But before that take heed to this age old Malayalam saying from Malabar
Krishnattam kaanan kulikkanam, kathaikali kandal kulikkanam…
which means you have to take a bath to see Krishnaatam, whereas you have a take a bath if you see a Kathakalai performance (perhaps owing to the inherent impurities in that art form..)…well, I am sure the Kathakali connoisseur is livid, and so I have to hasten to explain that Krishnattam was considered an offering of the faithful whereas the Kathakali was an art form created for the common man’s enjoyment, never as an offering to the lord. But then, there was an intermediate stage when Kathakali was actually called Ramanattam and was more Bhakti inclined..
It all started with a misunderstanding. Now we move away from the suzerain the Zamorin at Calicut, to a lesser king of Venad, the Kottarakkara Thampuran 1625-1685 – named Veera Kerala Varma of Kottarakkara, a place south of Cochin, where the Elayadathu swaroopam ruled. So as we see, Krishnattam had picked up steam and was popular though practiced only in specific places. One fine day, as the story goes, the Kottarakara raja requested the Zamorin for a loan of his fine troupe, to perform at Kottarakara, perhaps for a royal wedding function. The reigning Zamorin scoffed at the idea and rejected it outright stating that the people of Kottarakara were not intelligent enough to understand krishnattam let alone host a performance or enjoy it. Obviously there must have been some friction between the families, perhaps the Kottarakara raja sided with the Dutch at that time or was more aligned to the upcoming raja of Travancore, for there were many power games going one, and some of it may be found in my articles covering the Malabar and the Dutch, so the Zamorin was getting his back at the Kottarakkara king. I would presume this was uttered by the successor of the Krishna geethi Manavedan, for the devout Zamorin would not have uttered such callous comments and secondly the authorship of Ramanattam is dated around 1660-80.
So how did the Ramanattam get created, at least in legends? The Thampuran sat on the steps of the temple pond, praying to Lord Ganesa while looking at the still waters of the pond, when a gentle breeze rippled the waters and the slanting sunlight played a medley of colors on its surface. This was apparently the inspiration behind the multiple cascading colors used in Ramanattam costumes, and well, the lyrics were written sitting under the banyan tree…Interesting, right the similarities..Krishna and the Elanji tree at Guruvayoor, the Banyan tree and Ganesha at Kottarakara…Well, the first staging of the dance drama was done in front of Ganesha at the temple, and the dance steps came from another art form called Parapettam wheras the intricate body movements are said to be from kalaripayattu (this is a little strange for kalaripayattu was more prevalent in Malabar), though I am not quite in agreement with that. The language of the poetry was the Malayalam Sanskrit mix called the manipravalam style (more on that in another blog) which was better understandable to the bigger public. As time went by Kaplingad Namboothiri created the complex choreography. The original Ramanattam as you can imagine was also set around 8 cantos like Krishnattam. The first performers were a bunch of agile youths from the king’s army who were personally conducted by the king and assisted by Kittu kurup the kalari master and Venkalath Sankaranasan on their choreography. As time went by the Kottayam thampuran and many others like the Travancore kings, Iriyamman thampi and Thankachi contributed to create more themes to the Attakatha tradition.
As the legends continue, the story takes a full about turn. The new Zamorin at Calicut has heard about the development of Ramanattam and invited the troupe of the Kottayam Thampuran to perform Ramanattan at Calicut. The old animosity is forgotten and the team arrives in Calicut. One of the key performers, unbeknownst to the Zamorin was the Thampuran himself. So brilliant was the middle aged actor’s performance that the Zamorin goes up to him to congratulate him on a brilliant performance when he recognizes the Thampuran….the Zamorin finally acknowledges that the people of the South do indeed know a thing about arts…grudgingly….
Raamanaattam which was later transformed into Aattakatha, and yet later into Kathakali, described the complete story of Lord Raman. By the end of the seventeenth century, the finished product of Raamanaattam was placed before the world under the title Kathakali. The name Raman Attam now became unsuitable because of the widening thematic range, the multitude of stories and development in mudras and steps and so the name Kathakali or story-play took roots. It got to be played everywhere, as a whole or in bits and is very popular today. That is how we got to today’s Kathakali which has become a peopled form that has tabled many hundred stories using an incredible 847 mudras.
Subsequently, the spread of Kathakali worldwide started due to the personal interest of Uday Sankar and other popular dancers like Ragini Devi and Louise Lightfoot. In fact we have even a Chinese story amongst modern works; the play is based on an episode from Journey to the West, a classical novel about the adventures of the Chinese monk Sanzang who attempts to bring the Buddhist Sutras from India to China.
Finally what connection could Chinese or Japanese art forms have with Krishnattam and Ramanattam? Well, there are obviously a few connections, for people who have seen Chinese opera or kabuki say that they are somewhat similar. I have not seen it so I will pass on that issue, but I am not surprised, for we do know that the Zheng He treasure ships of 1407-1410 brought along large number of performers to Calicut. I am sure the intricate masks perhaps influenced the masks of Krishnattam. It is also possible that the flow of information went the other way from Krishnattam to China, for the mudras in Chinese opera are less developed in comparison. Also the Chinese opera uses only males just like Krishnattam though covering mainly the Mongol invasion stories. On the other hand, there had been extant attam forms in Malabar dating to the Buddhist times or even linked to Aryan stories like the Ramayana & Mahabharata. These were similar to the ones in SE Asia as well as China and Japan. Such forms found their way into Koodiyattam and koothu forms and we saw that Koodiyattam indeed influenced Krishnattam (check out kandyan Ves in Ceylon). As these were practiced by a chosen few, the forms remained largely unadultered and so we still see the similarities in parts of Asia.
And so that was a little bit about attams, especially kristnattam and kathakali where the audience sits in front of a stage without special effects and backdrops, just listening to a story being sung to a tune and watching the performers making elaborate feet and facial as well as hand movements, to tell old stories, but not speaking. They collectively transport you to the period, the personnel, events and locales of the epics or even modern stories, for a period of some 3-4 hours after which they are gone, and so is the stage while the people who watched are left to recant and recount, the events and stories in their mind for many more days. That is the mystique of today’s kathakali.
Now to the photograph on the right - That is the kathakali statue in my house, all of 4 feet in height shown in full splendor, depicting Arjuna, the third of the Pandavas. It was gifted to us by our closest friends Hari and Geetha, and this Arjuna travelled the full distance from Kottayam to Raleigh, from a place connected with Kathakali’s origin (ironically to the very house of a person somewhat connected to the Zamorins). Some days I sit and look at the statue and it connects me to a story that is slowly taking shape in my mind…Hopefully I will write it soon, when time permits…
References
1. SangeethaSabaha blogsite
2. Origin and Technique of Krishnanattam, V. Subramonia Iyer
3. Hindu article
4. Krishnageethi
5. On Krishnattam – PKS Raja
6. Theatre and the world: performance and the politics of culture Rustom Bharucha
7. Kathakali dance-drama: where gods and demons come to play -Phillip B. Zarrilli
8. The Social history of India – SN Sadasivan
9. The Ramayana in Kathakali dance drama - Nagendra Kr Singh, David Bolland
Notes.
- Kathakali is all about makeup, actions or mudras and facial expressions. To really appreciate the makeup and preparations which take many hours, you should see this video.
- One of the persons who spent his post middle years on the study and appreciation of Kathakali was none other than David Bolland who came to Calicut in 1950 to work for Pierce Leslie. He was so enamored with the art that he spent his later years and money and created such a collection of video and archival material. His books are also testament to his interest in the subject. I will cover him later in a separate article, and Bolland Sayip is still well known to the people of Calicut, at least some of the older ones.
- This article was briefly edited after it was first posted - i had made an erroneous statement in para 5 and connected the role of Tipu in Malabar and the English to this story without a second thought. My mistake and thanks to Vijay an avid reader for spotting it right away...
Maddy's Ramblings: From Krishnattam to Kathakali
Krishnanattam
கிருஷ்ண ஆட்டம்!---வேண்டுதல்களும் பலன்களும்.
கிருஷ்ண ஆட்டம்!
குருவாயூர் கோயிலில் தினமும் ராத்திரி பத்து மணிக்கு ‘கிருஷ்ணஆட்டம்’ களி என்று ஒரு கலை நடந்துவருகிறது. கதகளி, மோஹினியாட்டம் போல் இதுவும் பிரபலமான கதை நாட்டியம்.
இதில் ஸ்ரீகிருஷ்ணாவதாரம்,
காளியமர்த்தனம்,
ராஸக்ரீடை,
கம்ஸவதம்,
ஸ்வயம்வரம்
என்று எட்டுநாள் கதகளி ஆடி அவதரிப்பார்கள். பக்தர்கள் பணம் கட்டி நடத்தினால், அவர்களது வேண்டுதல்கள் நிச்சயமாகப் பலிக்கும். குருவாயூரில் இது பிரபலமான நேர்ச்சையாகும்.
ஸ்ரீகிருஷ்ணாவதாரம்:- சந்தான சௌபாக்கியம், பாலாரிஷ்டம் நிவாரணம், பாலபயம், பாலகேஷமம்
காளியமர்த்தனம்:- விஷபாதசமனம், சத்ருநாசம், ஸர்ப்பதோஷம் பரிகாரம், ரோகசமனம்
ராஸக்ரீடை:- கன்யகாகேஷமம், ஐஸ்வர்யம், ப்ரணயவிரஹம்.
கம்ஸவதம்:- சத்ருநாசம், பூர்விக சம்பத்து ஸ்தானம், கோர்ட்விவகாரம், கீர்த்தி தனலாபம்.
ஸ்வயம்வரம்:- மாங்கல்யபாக்கியம், கல்யாணத்தடை, தாம்பத்திய சௌக்கியம், வித்யாவிஜயம், அபவாத பரிகாரம்
பாணயுத்தம்:- கர்மவிஜயம், கார்யலாபம், சைவ-வைணவ ப்ரீதி, பிரேம ஸாபல்யம்
விவிதவதம்:- விவசாயம், நிலபுலன் மேம் பாடு, பீதிநாசம், செல்வம்
ஸ்வர்க்ககாரோஹணம்:- சந்தானதோஷ பரிகாரம், மரணபயம், ஆத்ம சுகம், மோட் சப்ராப்தி, விரஹதுக்கம், கஷ்ட நிவர்த்தி.
குருவாயூர் கோயிலில் இந்தக் கலை நிகழ்ச்சி நடத்த வேண்டுமென்றால் ஒரு கதைக்கு ரூபாய் 2000/- ஆகும். குருவாயூரப்பனுக்கு இது ரொம்பப் பிடித்த கலையாகும்.
குருவாயூரப்பனைக் குழந்தையாகப் பல தடவை நேரில் பார்த்துப் பேசியவர் ஸ்ரீ வில்வ மங்கலம் ஸ்வாமி. அவரது அனுக்கிரஹத்தால் கிருஷ்ண பக்தனான கோழிக்கோடு ராஜாவான மானவேதனுக்கு ஒருநாள் ஸ்ரீகிருஷ்ண தரிசனம் கிடைத்தது. அப்போது ராஜா தன்னையே மறந்து பகவானை அப்படியே கட்டிப் பிடித்துக்கொள்ள, பகவான் திருமுடியிலிருந்து ஒரு மயில் பீலி உதிர்ந்து விழுந்தது.
ராஜா அதையே மூலமாகக் கொண்டு தான் கிருஷ்ணன் பிறப்பிலிருந்து, சுவர்க்கம் சென்றதுவரை, எல்லா லீலைகளையும் ‘கிருஷ்ண கீதி’ என்று வடமொழிக் காவியமாக்கி ஸ்ரீ குருவாயூரப்பனுக்கு சமர்ப்பித்தார். அதுதான் ‘கிருஷ்ண ஆட்டம் களி’ என்று பிரபலமானதாக ஐதிகம்.
குருவாயூரப்பன் இன்றும் கிருஷ்ணஆட்டம் பார்க்க வருகிறார் என்று சொல்கிறார்கள்.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bwTT8CQlkU
This is the temple dancers from the famous Guruvayur Sree Krishna Temple in Guruvayur performing Krishnanattam during Revathi Pattathanam celebrations at Zaorin's School near Tali temple in calicut on 11 November 2008
Source:Sage of Kanchi
Hindukkalin Prasad
A Krishnanattam performance is basically different from Kathakali, which uses hand and facial gestures and follows padartha abhinaya, the literal interpretation of the verses. Krishnanattam is more dance-oriented with intricate and aesthetic patterns. There is an old saying that to appreciate Kathakali one has to observe the actor’s face and for Krishnanattam the audience must carefully watch the actor’s footsteps. This speaks volumes about the peculiarities of the two forms.
And now that we have exhausted the legend behind krishnattam, the divine art form or offering to the lord of Guruvayoor, we get to the even more interesting legend behind the origin of Kathakali.
But before that take heed to this age old Malayalam saying from Malabar
Krishnattam kaanan kulikkanam, kathaikali kandal kulikkanam…
which means you have to take a bath to see Krishnaatam, whereas you have a take a bath if you see a Kathakalai performance (perhaps owing to the inherent impurities in that art form..)…well, I am sure the Kathakali connoisseur is livid, and so I have to hasten to explain that Krishnattam was considered an offering of the faithful whereas the Kathakali was an art form created for the common man’s enjoyment, never as an offering to the lord. But then, there was an intermediate stage when Kathakali was actually called Ramanattam and was more Bhakti inclined..
It all started with a misunderstanding. Now we move away from the suzerain the Zamorin at Calicut, to a lesser king of Venad, the Kottarakkara Thampuran 1625-1685 – named Veera Kerala Varma of Kottarakkara, a place south of Cochin, where the Elayadathu swaroopam ruled. So as we see, Krishnattam had picked up steam and was popular though practiced only in specific places. One fine day, as the story goes, the Kottarakara raja requested the Zamorin for a loan of his fine troupe, to perform at Kottarakara, perhaps for a royal wedding function. The reigning Zamorin scoffed at the idea and rejected it outright stating that the people of Kottarakara were not intelligent enough to understand krishnattam let alone host a performance or enjoy it. Obviously there must have been some friction between the families, perhaps the Kottarakara raja sided with the Dutch at that time or was more aligned to the upcoming raja of Travancore, for there were many power games going one, and some of it may be found in my articles covering the Malabar and the Dutch, so the Zamorin was getting his back at the Kottarakkara king. I would presume this was uttered by the successor of the Krishna geethi Manavedan, for the devout Zamorin would not have uttered such callous comments and secondly the authorship of Ramanattam is dated around 1660-80.
So how did the Ramanattam get created, at least in legends? The Thampuran sat on the steps of the temple pond, praying to Lord Ganesa while looking at the still waters of the pond, when a gentle breeze rippled the waters and the slanting sunlight played a medley of colors on its surface. This was apparently the inspiration behind the multiple cascading colors used in Ramanattam costumes, and well, the lyrics were written sitting under the banyan tree…Interesting, right the similarities..Krishna and the Elanji tree at Guruvayoor, the Banyan tree and Ganesha at Kottarakara…Well, the first staging of the dance drama was done in front of Ganesha at the temple, and the dance steps came from another art form called Parapettam wheras the intricate body movements are said to be from kalaripayattu (this is a little strange for kalaripayattu was more prevalent in Malabar), though I am not quite in agreement with that. The language of the poetry was the Malayalam Sanskrit mix called the manipravalam style (more on that in another blog) which was better understandable to the bigger public. As time went by Kaplingad Namboothiri created the complex choreography. The original Ramanattam as you can imagine was also set around 8 cantos like Krishnattam. The first performers were a bunch of agile youths from the king’s army who were personally conducted by the king and assisted by Kittu kurup the kalari master and Venkalath Sankaranasan on their choreography. As time went by the Kottayam thampuran and many others like the Travancore kings, Iriyamman thampi and Thankachi contributed to create more themes to the Attakatha tradition.
As the legends continue, the story takes a full about turn. The new Zamorin at Calicut has heard about the development of Ramanattam and invited the troupe of the Kottayam Thampuran to perform Ramanattan at Calicut. The old animosity is forgotten and the team arrives in Calicut. One of the key performers, unbeknownst to the Zamorin was the Thampuran himself. So brilliant was the middle aged actor’s performance that the Zamorin goes up to him to congratulate him on a brilliant performance when he recognizes the Thampuran….the Zamorin finally acknowledges that the people of the South do indeed know a thing about arts…grudgingly….
Raamanaattam which was later transformed into Aattakatha, and yet later into Kathakali, described the complete story of Lord Raman. By the end of the seventeenth century, the finished product of Raamanaattam was placed before the world under the title Kathakali. The name Raman Attam now became unsuitable because of the widening thematic range, the multitude of stories and development in mudras and steps and so the name Kathakali or story-play took roots. It got to be played everywhere, as a whole or in bits and is very popular today. That is how we got to today’s Kathakali which has become a peopled form that has tabled many hundred stories using an incredible 847 mudras.
Subsequently, the spread of Kathakali worldwide started due to the personal interest of Uday Sankar and other popular dancers like Ragini Devi and Louise Lightfoot. In fact we have even a Chinese story amongst modern works; the play is based on an episode from Journey to the West, a classical novel about the adventures of the Chinese monk Sanzang who attempts to bring the Buddhist Sutras from India to China.
Finally what connection could Chinese or Japanese art forms have with Krishnattam and Ramanattam? Well, there are obviously a few connections, for people who have seen Chinese opera or kabuki say that they are somewhat similar. I have not seen it so I will pass on that issue, but I am not surprised, for we do know that the Zheng He treasure ships of 1407-1410 brought along large number of performers to Calicut. I am sure the intricate masks perhaps influenced the masks of Krishnattam. It is also possible that the flow of information went the other way from Krishnattam to China, for the mudras in Chinese opera are less developed in comparison. Also the Chinese opera uses only males just like Krishnattam though covering mainly the Mongol invasion stories. On the other hand, there had been extant attam forms in Malabar dating to the Buddhist times or even linked to Aryan stories like the Ramayana & Mahabharata. These were similar to the ones in SE Asia as well as China and Japan. Such forms found their way into Koodiyattam and koothu forms and we saw that Koodiyattam indeed influenced Krishnattam (check out kandyan Ves in Ceylon). As these were practiced by a chosen few, the forms remained largely unadultered and so we still see the similarities in parts of Asia.
And so that was a little bit about attams, especially kristnattam and kathakali where the audience sits in front of a stage without special effects and backdrops, just listening to a story being sung to a tune and watching the performers making elaborate feet and facial as well as hand movements, to tell old stories, but not speaking. They collectively transport you to the period, the personnel, events and locales of the epics or even modern stories, for a period of some 3-4 hours after which they are gone, and so is the stage while the people who watched are left to recant and recount, the events and stories in their mind for many more days. That is the mystique of today’s kathakali.
Now to the photograph on the right - That is the kathakali statue in my house, all of 4 feet in height shown in full splendor, depicting Arjuna, the third of the Pandavas. It was gifted to us by our closest friends Hari and Geetha, and this Arjuna travelled the full distance from Kottayam to Raleigh, from a place connected with Kathakali’s origin (ironically to the very house of a person somewhat connected to the Zamorins). Some days I sit and look at the statue and it connects me to a story that is slowly taking shape in my mind…Hopefully I will write it soon, when time permits…
References
1. SangeethaSabaha blogsite
2. Origin and Technique of Krishnanattam, V. Subramonia Iyer
3. Hindu article
4. Krishnageethi
5. On Krishnattam – PKS Raja
6. Theatre and the world: performance and the politics of culture Rustom Bharucha
7. Kathakali dance-drama: where gods and demons come to play -Phillip B. Zarrilli
8. The Social history of India – SN Sadasivan
9. The Ramayana in Kathakali dance drama - Nagendra Kr Singh, David Bolland
Notes.
- Kathakali is all about makeup, actions or mudras and facial expressions. To really appreciate the makeup and preparations which take many hours, you should see this video.
- One of the persons who spent his post middle years on the study and appreciation of Kathakali was none other than David Bolland who came to Calicut in 1950 to work for Pierce Leslie. He was so enamored with the art that he spent his later years and money and created such a collection of video and archival material. His books are also testament to his interest in the subject. I will cover him later in a separate article, and Bolland Sayip is still well known to the people of Calicut, at least some of the older ones.
- This article was briefly edited after it was first posted - i had made an erroneous statement in para 5 and connected the role of Tipu in Malabar and the English to this story without a second thought. My mistake and thanks to Vijay an avid reader for spotting it right away...
Maddy's Ramblings: From Krishnattam to Kathakali
Krishnanattam
