A team of students from the State performed the traditional art form of Koodiyattom to bag the silver trophy for Theatre Arts at the Kala Utsav 2016, a national-level arts festival organised under the aegis of the Union Human Resource Development Ministry.
The team comprised Shilpa Merin, Navya Nakshathra, Meenu Sivadas, Abiya M.V., Govind P., Bijul M.S., Vishnu Parashuram, Arathi C.N, Keerthana Subash, Devika N., Ravishankar and Jishnu T.V., all Class 12 students at the Vivekodayam Higher Secondary School, Thrissur.
The students, who have been learning Koodiyattom from artiste Painkulam Narayana Chakyar for the past five years, performed the Balivadham act from Bhasa’s Abhisheka Natakam at the event. As part of the festival, the team also had to submit an online project on Koodiyattom .
Their prize includes a cash award of Rs.75,000, a silver trophy, and silver medals for each team member.
The first prize in the theatre arts event went to the Karnataka team, who performed Yakshagana .
Held from November 15 to 18, the festival was focused on the theme ‘Living Traditions of Art,’ with an aim to highlight the various tribal, folk and traditional art forms of the country. Other events at the festival included music, dance and visual arts. In these events, the Kerala team had showcased Naadan pattu , Daffu muttu and a clay model symbolising the Nirbhaya incident respectively.
The festival provided an interesting opportunity to interact with students from all over the country, and to enjoy diverse art forms, Shilpa Merin told The Hindu . She expressed pride in having introduced such a versatile crowd to the 2000-year old art form.
Kala Utsav, which promoted art for the sake of art, was a refreshing change from the State school Kalolsavam , which focused excessively on grace marks, RMSA State Programme Director Rahul R. told The Hindu.
The State team had been selected through district- and State-level competitions organised by the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyaan (RMSA).
