Koodiyattam

Koodiyattam is a dance traditionally enacted in temples. Koodiyattam is Kathakali's 2000 year old predecessor and is offered as a votive offering to the deity. Kulasekhara Varma Cheraman Perumal, an ancient King of Kerala is known as the creator of Koodiyattam in the present form, and his Aattaprakaram is considered as the most authoritative publication on the art form.

Koodiyattam literally means "acting together". This is the earliest classical dramatic art form of Kerala. Based on Sage Bharatha's 'Natyasasthra' who lived in the second century, Kootiyattam evolved in the 9th century AD.

Instead of single Chakiyar a number of performers get together and stage dance-drama. That is why it is called Koodiyattom, literally "dancing together" (The beginnings of Kerala dramaturgy can be traced to this dance). Both men and women partake in this performance. Abhinaya is the most important element in Koodiyattom. The texts are always in Sanskrit and the performance is a prolonged affair. It may take anything from a few days to a number of weeks. All the four types of abhinaya, viz. Angikam, Vachikam, Sathvikam and Aharyam are fully utilized in Koodiyattom. The plays are performed only in temple precincts as votive offerings. Abhinaya or acting is a three -fold or even four-fold process. Appropriate hand gestures are symbols are first shown when the words of the verse are spoken in a typically modulated tone. As the music is begun, the meaning of the words are translated into a language of bodily postures, attitudes and facial expressions. The third is a repetition of the first.

Koodiyattom is staged on the specially built temple theatre called Koothambalam. The stage is decorated with fruit-bearing plantains and bunches of tender coconuts and festooned with fronds of the coconut palm. A vessel overflowing with paddy is placed on the stage. Lighting is done with a tall oil lamp made of brass. Within a railed enclosure on the stage is a large copper drum called mizhavu with a high seat for the Nambiyar drummer. A Nangiyar women plays cymbal and occasionally recites the verses. The musical element is very much suppressed in Koodiyattom. At times special orchestral effects are introduced. The orchestra consists of an edakka, maddalam, a conch, pipe and horn. There is facial make-up using colour schemes and pattern having symbolic value, though strict standardization of types is absent. The make-up patterns as seen in the better-known Kathakali are borrowed from Koodiyattom.

In the actual performance, first the drum is sounded and then the Nangiyar woman recites the invocatory verse, (vandana slokam). After that a purificatory ritual of sprinkling holy water on the stage is done by the Nambiyar. Then there is an interlude of orchestra, after which the dance ritual ceremony called Kriyachavittuka is performed by the Sutradhara. The next item is the stapana of the particular act. The main character is introduced in the next stage called Koothupurappadu in the background of the tense dramatic sense created by the full orchestra fury.

Nirvahana, the next part of the drama, follows. This itself consists of three phases, the Anukrama, the Samkshepa and the Vistara respectively. Purushartha follows in which clown (Vidushaka), caricaturing the moods, is the hero. This is a significant departure from tradition and a remarkable feature of Koodiyattom. The drama proper now begins sluggishly and leisurely through the long drawn out, detailed and elaborate abhinaya process.

Vidushaka or the wise man, a figure parallel to the Fool in Shakespearean plays, enacts his role with the liberty to criticise anyone without fear. The costume of the jester sets him apart from the rest. The Kootiyattam performance lasts for several days ranging from 6 to 20 days. Themes are based on mythology.

The Koodal Manickyam temple at Irinjalakkuda and the Vadakkumnatha temple at Thrissur are the main centres where Kootiyattam is still performed annually. Ammannoor Madhava Chakkiar is an unrivalled maestro of this rare art.

The stage craft is simple, with hardly any stage setting. Koodiyattom is perhaps the oldest dance-drama in existence in India. Recently the UNESCO brought to light, a less known art form of Kerala - Koodiyattom - and declared it as one among the "Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity". It is for the first time in the history of UNESCO that select art forms across the world have been given this recognition as part of its effort to safeguard expressions of oral heritage and traditional culture which are in danger of disappearing.