Play of mudras and melody

Enthralling Kathakali, music and dance recitals were the highlights of a festival at Kottakkal Viswambhara Temple.

Kalamandalam Gopi and Margi Vijayakumar in 'Nalacharitham – Randam Divasam'

Kathakali enthusiasts were treated to five nights of Kathakali performances as part of a week-long cultural fiesta at Kottakkal Viswambhara Temple. Madavur Vasudevan Nair, Kalamandalam Gopi, Nelliyodu Vasudevan Namboothiri and Sadanam Krishnankutty were some of the main artistes participating in the event.

Madavur Vasudevan Nair donned the role of kattalan in ‘Nalacharitham – Randam Divasam’. A short role, Madavur shortened it even further. Although his facial expressions were neat, the kalasams were missing in his performance. Kalamandalam Gopi, evergreen hero in Kathakali, enacted Nalan in the play. As usual, the artiste lent élan to the role.

His years of experience shone through in the Pathinja padam, ‘Kuvalaya vilochane...’, in his trademark silence in the depiction between the padam, ‘Dayithe..nee kel’, and while performing certain postures. Margi Vijayakumar, who played Damayanthi, looked at ease during the padam, ‘Samyam akannoru udyanam…’

‘Dakshayagam’ Kathakali saw Nelliyodu Vasudevan Namboothiri donned the Chuvannathadi role again. The artiste was at his best performing as Veerabhadra in the battle scenes with Dakshan (enacted by Ettumanur P. Kannan). Narippatta Narayanan Nambuthiri as Hanuman in ‘Kalyanasaugandhikam’ did a fine job, his gestures and mannerisms suiting the character. The ‘Ashtakalasam’ Narippatta presented was perfect in terms of technique.

Kottakkal Chandrasekhara Warrier, a popular artiste in kathi roles, came as the mighty Ravanan in ‘Rambhapravesham’. Although he had problems with his mudras and dance, the emotions he depicted were impressive. Warrier seemed more at ease in the second scene as he wooed Rambha, essayed by Kottakkal Vasudevan.

Kalamandalam Balasubramanian was Ravana and Mathur Govindankutty was Narada in ‘Balivijayam’. While Balasubramanian’s performance showcased the textbook style acting, Mathur’s was more of lokadharmi.

‘Nalacharitham – Nalam Divasam’ featuring Sadanam Krishnankutty as Bahukan and Kalamandalam Rajasekharan as Damayanthi was another interesting play to watch as both the artistes came good in their roles. However the pick of the Kathakali performances was ‘Balivadham’, which had Kalamandalam Ramachandran Unnithan as Bali and Kottakkal Devadas as Sugreevan. The duo worked in sync, bringing the tale alive. Devadas performed a manodharama attam (solo narration), which described the feud between the brothers. Unnithan put in a power-packed performance as Bali.

Kottakkal Rajumohan as Lalitha in ‘Poothanamoksham’ failed to do justice to his role. His gestures and over the top acting spoiled the mood of the play.

The other Kathakali plays performed as part of the fete were ‘Santhanagopalam’ and ‘Subhadraharanam’. Kalamandalam Kesavan Nambudiri’s depiction of the Brahmanan was a good one as he adopted the acting techniques of both Kalamandalam Padmanabhan Nair and Vasu Pisharodi, who are known for their excellence in the role. Sadanam Balakrishnan as Balabhadrara and Sadanam Bhasi as Krishnan were the artistes in ‘Subhadraharanam’. A melappadam choreographed by Sadanam Harikumar set in Adantha tala was unveiled during the festival. The lyrics for the melappadam were borrowed from the seventh chapter of Jayadeva’s Asthapadi, which narrates the conversation between Krishna and Radha.

Dance and music

A Mohiniyattam performance by Gopika Varma was the inaugural programme in the dance and music segment of the festival. Gopika selected a work by the late P.S. Warrier as her main item. A cholkettu, based on a slokam by Warrier, it was a prayer to Lord Viswambhara. In the piece, she portrayed Gajendramoksham, Prahladacharitham and Draupadi vasthrapaharanam. The story of Mohini was also mentioned in that item. In the next piece, an Ashtapadi, she performed ‘Chandana charchitha…’, with élan. Gopika finished her two-and-a-half hour recital with ‘Harivarasanam’.

Classical music concerts by Sankaran Namboothiri, Sandeep Narayanan, Sruthy Sagar and Sriram Parthasarathy were also held during the fete. The fete which was held as part of the temple’s annual festival included chendamelam, nadaswaram, Ashtapadi, Padhakam, Chakyarkoothu and Ottanthullal performances too. The festival was held under the aegis of Arya Vaidya Sala, Kottakkal.