A lotus blooms and its petals seem to be tremulously awaiting the breeze as Arjuna pays obeisance to Lord Krishna by comparing his eyes to those of the lotus flower. Bindu Madhavan’s fingers effortlessly transformed Guru Ettumanoor Kannan’s murmured verses of ‘Naadha Bhavacharanam’ in Devagandhari ragam into the visual language of Kathakali to narrate an episode from the popular story of Santhanagopalam .
Following her keenly and emulating her gestures were a motley group of Kathakali aficionados even as their fingers formed the mudras that transposed the aural into visual semantics. “This is a workshop I have been holding since 2007 when I was working on a project with the International Centre of Kerala Studies under the University of Kerala. I have always felt that Kerala’s own classical theatre could attract more viewers and fans if they could understand completely what was happening on the stage. Some are able to follow the music and grasp the scenes enacted by the artistes but once the artistes begin to use their imagination and improvise, the viewer is at sea unless the spectator knows the language of the mudras,” explains Kannan.
It was an AHA moment for the consummate Kathakali performer. He realised that one of the main components of Kathakali is hand gestures and its vocabulary.
“It is the backbone of Kathakali. So the music, the lyrics and the rasas such as sringara (romance), hasya (humour) and so on are all expressed through the mudras. Learning to read and understand the hand gestures is the focal point of Kathakali and akin to getting a key to open the door and enter the world of the classical art form. It is because of ignorance of the mudras that many don’t enjoy Kathakali performances,” he adds.
So, with the blessings of the mandarins in the University, Kannan began a certificate course on classical form appreciation. He recalls that eight to nine courses were conducted and people from different walks of life were guided into the action-filled plays of Kathakali. When that petered to a stop, Kannan continued the workshops at his home or in venues like that of Trivandrum Samskarika Kendram, which were all organised by friends.
Ettumannor Kannan (right) with participants of a workshop on Kathakali mudras
“Word of mouth brought in participants who wanted to learn the nuances of Kathakali. In those days, we used to give announcements in the paper. Now, Whatsapp groups inform would-be participants. All the workshops conclude with a Cholliyattam on the padam they had learnt,” says Kannan.
He elaborates that even many Kathakali artistes are amused or disinterested when they learn about his workshops. “They don’t see the point in viewers of Kathakali learning the mudras. But my point is that once they learn the language of the mudras, many are mesmerised by the artistry of a performer. It is like learning the letters of the alphabet of a language,” he adds.
Kannan points out that in older days, perhaps there was no need for such formal sessions because Kathakali recitals were so much a part of life that many would watch it in temples or during event organised by wealthy families and patrons.
- Bindu Madhavan, an executive engineer with the Kerala State Electricity Board, and her husband, Madhavan Sukumaran, working in Technopark, are ardent viewers of Kathakali. So is her brother Brajesh C Kaimal, an employee at Technopark. “Three of us travel to watch plays by consummate artistes. It doesn’t matter if we have to use up our holidays and weekends for this,” says Bindu.
- Her brother adds that since Kathakali recitals are few and far in between, as soon as they hear about a major play, they plan to watch it. All three of them are participants of the workshop. Meanwhile, Sibi Surendran, a resident of Chathanoor, travels about 50 km to attend the workshop. “Unlike many in this group, I happened to watch a play at a temple about a year ago. Mesmerised by the action and the music, I began watching more recitals. However, for someone like me, it was not easy to follow everything on stage. So, when I got to know of this, I grabbed the opportunity to get a hang of the action on stage,” he explains.
- Similarly, Nalini began watching Kathakali about a year ago. Enjoying the stories, the music and the percussion, she started attending many of the plays staged in the city. For her, too, the workshop came as a godsend to better her understanding of the nuances of Kerala’s classical theatre.
Frequent watching of the plays and the help of elders and connoisseurs would hone the aesthetics of youngsters. “Moreover, in those days people had enough time to watch night-long recitals, discuss the performances and so on. Now, when many of us have nine-to-five jobs, watching all night plays and engaging in debates on the finer points of a recital may not happen. Hence, workshops attempt to do that through formal appreciation courses,” he says.
Although the workshop had to be discontinued when he left to take up an assignment at Kerala Kalamandalam, Kannan resumed the workshop after his return to the city. Known informally as the Kathakali Aswadana Kalari, as soon as Kannan announced his workshop on the Whatsapp group, ten people joined. Only one dropped out.
He points out that once the participants learn all the mudras in this padam, they would understand about 50 mudras.
“That is the foundation. ‘Mudrapaedia’, an online portal on mudras, has documented 1,000 mudras; 947 main mudras and the rest are lesser ones. Fifty is nothing. But once, they understand the grammar of the mudras, they will able to build on it. In the 10 days, they were be familiarised with the grammar and they will get insights into the performance of a play,” explains Kannan.
