His ‘mayilattam’ has taken 84-year-old K. Krishna Rayar of Vadipatti all over the country. Today, he is confined to his home and rare travel takes him to as far as Madurai.
“I have performed in front of both Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi when they were prime ministers during the Independence Day celebrations in New Delhi,” recalls the folk artiste, who has been performing since 1953.
Artistes who perform ‘karagattam,’ ‘thappattam’ and ‘mayilattam’ say that it has become increasingly difficult to make ends meet as they do not get enough opportunities.
“We used to get around 12 performances a month a few decade ago. Now, it has come down to a maximum of only three events. . A performer is paid about Rs. 1,000 a day and many of us are forced to take up employment as daily wage labourers on other days,” says S. Balaji, a ‘karagattam’ performer from Alanganallur.
Time and space restrictions imposed on conduct of temple festivals in villages have greatly hampered their work, the performers say. “Since the celebrations are not allowed to exceed beyond a certain time, the organisers hesitate to hire us as they think there won’t be enough time for us ,” says M. Pandi, another folk artiste.
P. Sekar, a ‘karagattam’ dancer, rues that preference for dancing to film numbers has minimised opportunities for folk artistes. “To improve our chances of finding employment, we have formed a group and use folk arts to spread awareness of social issues. We can assist the government and NGOs, if needed,” he says.
They feel that the government can patronise them by allotting slots for folk art performance at functions organised by it. “Schools and colleges too can call us for performances for campus events since it will give us a chance to speak about ancient folk arts to youngsters,” says O. Raju, another folk artiste. Mr. Rayar wants banks to sanction loans for folk artistes to buy costumes and instruments. “Many of us hardly earn enough for food. Financial assistance will be of great help as we can better our performances with good instruments, props and newer costumes,” he says.