‘Daksha Yagam’ marked the finale of ‘Bhaava Bhaavanam’. The rousing sounds of chendai and maddalam welcomed the audience as they walked into Koothambalam, that provided a perfect ambience to the performance. The powerful singing added to the excitement.
The multicoloured thirasila or the curtain held by the two attendants evoked a sense of awe. It was held in the centre of the stage with the instrumentalists visible on the sides. This offered an intimacy to the audience, taking them along in the preparation for the entry of the characters, who created a magical world of the lore they were about to perform.
After the purva ranga behind the thira, the top of the exquisite crown was visible over it, Daksha gave a majestic pose tolet the audience know right at the beginning that his downfall was because of his arrogance.
The narration took off from there. Daksha, the capable one, the King of the Himalayas, describes to Indra, his frustration over his daughter Sati as the wife of Siva, who he does not like. His affection for his daughter, his grief that she left with Siva without telling him and his anger towards Siva were all expressed through gestures and facial expressions and in the typical angikabhinaya, which creates a structure of its own in the Padarthabhinaya (enactment of meaning of each word in the line sung). Indra advises Daksha to overcome his emotions and meet Siva in Kailasa. Then follows the most fascinating traditional tirainokku of Nandikeswara, who is guarding the gates of Kailasa, and wonders on seeing a young man with striking radiance walking over to him. He does not allow Daksha to enter the abode of Siva. Daksha retreats.
Then came the entry of Siva and Sati. Romantic mood gives way to anger when Sati decides to attend her father Daksha’s Yaga uninvited. She is unable to bear the insults her father Daksha heaps on her and Siva. Here the story gets a twist from the popular perception.
An enraged Sati returns to her husband and entreats him to kill her father. She also tells Siva that she does not want to be with him and burns herself to ashes in front of him even as he pleads withher to stay. This is different from the Sati story found in Bhagavatha Purana, according to which Sati burns herself at the yaga space.
Sadanam Balakrishnan, who has been curating Bhaava Bhaavanam since its inception explained to me that poet Irayamman Thampi, who composed Daksha Yagam for Kathakali, took his idea from Skanda Purana and gave a strong character to Parvati as Sati. The serene Siva is so angry that from his hair is born Veerabhadra and from Sati’s ashes, Bhadrakali. The scene here becomes Arabhati and the percussion reaches a crescendo at the Thirainokku of the fierce characters. The audience scatter as the auditorium becomes the space for these two followed by the Bhoothaganas to fight Daksha. They desecrate the yaga that would have made Daksha the king of heavens too. They behead him and throw the head into the sacrificial fire. A goat’s head is secured to bring back the repentant Daksha to life and he worships Siva.
Kalamandalam Soman as Daksha, Kalamandalam Vipin as Nandikeswara, Kalamandalam Biju as Siva, Kalamandalam C. Vijayakumar as Sati, Kalamandalam Hari K. Nair as Veerabhadra, Kottakkal Sunil as Bhadrakali outdid each other in portraying different characters with their distinctions — vibhava (determinant), anubhava (consequent) and vyabhichari (transient) . The ‘Nokkinal’ (time-consuming appreciation of a spouse by means of the upanga, the eyes) was particularly exquisite in Siva. Subtleties in the mimed reactions, were managed by all even while being dwarfed by the magnificent make up and costume (Chutti Kalamandalam Shivaraman, Sadanam Srinivasan, costume assistance Kotakkal Kunjiraman, Sadanam Vivek, Rajan and Sreenarayanan). The Bhadrakali character reminded one of Kathakali’s tantric roots.
Chenda played by Kalamandalam Balasundaram and Sadanam Jithin, maddalam by Kalamandalam Radhakrishnan and Sadanam Jayarajan added to the mood. The text sung soulfully by Kottakkal Madhu and Sadanam Jyothish Babu enhanced the aesthetic communication.
A spectacle of fantastic drama with incredible timing achieved with no rehearsal whatsoever spoke volumes of the long years of training.
