When academic V. Vijayan attempted to portray the legends surrounding Lord Ayyappa of Sabarimala through Kathakali six decades ago, it was hailed as a bold attempt in the dance-drama, outside the stipulated boundaries of Ramayana and Mahabharatha.
Titled Manikanda Vijayam , Vijayan’s Attakatha soon won the admiration of Kathakali performers and appreciators across the State.
Manikanda Vijayam was staged for the first time at Vadakkanthara Temple in Palakkad on October 6, 1957. In celebration of its diamond jubilee, it will be staged at the Chembai Music College auditorium here on November 25.
The event also involves a meeting to recall the contributions of the late Vijayan to Kathakali and Malayalam literature.
A performer too
A Malayalam scholar who worked with government colleges across Kerala, Vijayan was a trained Kathakali performer, learning the ropes from Kadathanad Raman Nair and Sankaran Nair at a young age.
He acquired deep knowledge in all aspects of Kathakali, including its literature and music.
After Manikanda Vijayam became a hit, he wrote yet another Attakatha on Lord Ayyappa titled Preethi Vaibhavam in 1964.
His eagerness to experiment with the traditional dance-drama form resulted in the Kathakali versions of Rabindranath Tagore’s Karnan and Kunthi and Kumaranasan’s Veenapoovu . Over the years, he wrote 33 Attakathas, most of them outside the confines of Ramayana and Mahabharatha .
The founder of Palakkad Kathakali Trust, Vijayan also contributed immensely to the growth of the Kerala Kalamandalam, Kunchan Nambiar Memorial at Lakkidi, and Thunchan Memorial Samithy in Tirur. He died on September 9, 1992.
“The first staging of Manikanda Vijayam at Vadakkanthara contained events only till the birth of Ayyappa. However, the whole dance-drama detailing Ayyappa’s complete life was staged at Ramnagar in Coimbatore on December 26, 1957. The diwan of erstwhile Travancore C.P. Ramaswamy Iyer had inaugurated the show,” recalls Vijayan’s grandson Hiran Venugopalan.
Former MLA K.A. Chandran will preside over the Vijayan memorial meeting at 2 p.m. on November 25.
