Kathakali Report

KATHAKALI REPORT

  

A Kathakali orientation class was held under the guidance of Kalamandalam Rajeev Sir for the first year B.Ed. students of 2017-2019 academic year on 24^th August 2017 at Fatima Memorial Training College Pallimukku Kollam.

Kathakali is one of the major forms of classical Indian dance. Kathakali means a story play or dance drama. Katha means story. Belonging to the South-Western costal state of Kerala, Kathakali is primarily a dance drama form and it is extremely colorful with billowing costumes, flowing scarves, ornaments and crowns. The dancers use a specific type of symbolic makeup to portray various roles which are character- types rather than individual characters. Various qualities, human, godlike, demonic etc…., are all represented through fantastic make-up and costumes.

The world of Kathakali is peopled by noble heroes and demons locked in battle, with truth winning over untruth, good and evil. The stories from the two epics, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, as well as the Puranas constitute the themes of the themes of the Kathakali dance dramas.

The macro and micro movements of the face, the movements of the eyebrows, the eyeballs, the cheeks, the nose and the chin are minutely worked out and various emotions are registered in a lash by a Kathakali actor-dancer. Often men play the female roles, though of late women have taken to Kathakali.

The pure dance element in Kathakali is limited to kalasams, decorative dance movements alternating with an expressional passage where the actor impersonates a character, miming to the libretto sung by the musician. A cylindrical drum called chenda, a drum called maddalam held horizontally, cymbals and a gong from the musical accompaniment, and two vocalists renders the songs. Using typical music known as sopanam, Kathakali creates a world of its own.

The most striking feature of Kathakali is its overwhelming dramatic quality. But its characters never speak. It is danced to the musical compositions, involving dialogues, narration and continuity. It employs the lexicon of a highly developed hand-gesture language which enhances the facial expressions and unfolds the text of the drama.

There are 24 basic mudras {hand gestures} in the ‘Hasthalakshana Deepika’, the book of hand gestures, which Kathakali is followed. There are ‘Asamyutha Mudras’ {that is shown using single hand} and ‘Samyutha Mudras’ {mudras shown in double hands} in each basic mudras, to shown different symbols. Considering all these mudras and their seprations there are totally 470 symbols used in Kathakali. The different types of mudras are

    1.Pathaaka {Flag}

There are 36 double hand symbols and 10 single hand symbols using this mudra. Totally 46.

2. Mudraakhyam

There are 13 double hand symbols and 12 single hand symbols using this mudra. Totally 25.

3. Katakam {Golden Bangle}

There are 20 double hand symbols and 9 single hand symbols using this mudra. Totally 29.

4. Mushti

There are 25 double hand symbols and 15 single hand symbols using this mudra. Totally 40.

5. Kartharee Mukham {Scissor’s sharp point}

There are 16 double hnd symbols and 10 single hand symbols using this mudra. Totally 26.

6. Sukathudam {Parrot’s peek}

There are 3 double hand symbols using this mudra.

7. Kapidhakam {The fruit of a tree}

There are 1o double hand symbols using this mudra.

8. Hamsa Paksham {Swan’s wing}

There are 42 single hand symbols and 11 double hand symbols using this mudra.

9. Sikharam {Peak}

8 single hand symbols. Double hand symbol using this mudra are Garudan {a hawkin purana}, Swan and Jatayu.

10. Hamsaasyam {Swan’s peek}

This mudra can show 8 double hand symbols and 4 single hand symbols.

11. Anjaly {Folded hands in salutation}

15 double handsymbols and 2 single handed symbols.

12. Ardhachandram {Half moon}

9 double hand symbols and 4 single hand symbols.

13. Mukuram {Mirror}

There are 11 double hand symbols and 9 single hand symbols using this mudra totally 20.

14. Bhramaram {Beetle}

5 double hand symbols and 4 single hand symbols.

15. Soochimukham {Needle’s sharp point}

10 double hand symbols and 16 single hand symbols.

16. Pallavam {Sprout}

9 double hand symbols and 6 single hand symbols.

17. Thripathaaka {Flag with three colors}

6 double hand symbols.

18. Mrigaseersham {Deer’s head}

2 double hand symbols.

19. Sarpasirassu {Serpant’s head}

9 double hand symbols.

20. Vardhamanakam {Seedling}

6 double hand symbols and 3 single hand symbols.

21. Araalam {Curved}

5 double hand symbols.

22. Oornanabham {Spider}

7 double hand symbols.

23. Mukulam {Bud}

24. Katakaamukham

6 double hand symbols.

Kathakali is a blend of dance, music and acting and dramatizes stories which are mostly adapted from the Indian epics. In no other dance style is the entire body used so completely as in kathakali. Kalamandalam Rajeev Sir concluded his class with a small performance and it was the highlight of the session. On the whole the class was very interesting.