On Thursday, the participants of Summer School organised by the State Central Library here had a few lessons on the timeless temple art of Nangyar Koothu.
The one-hour lecture-demonstration was led by Nangyar Koothu exponent Margi Usha. She enacted the elaborate mudras of lotus, flower, water, Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva and interacted with the participants.
Nangyar Koothu, a solo dance drama, is mainly centred on the legends of Sree Krishna. Verses are sung and interpreted through mime and dance. Usha wound up the session by enacting a bee flying away from a flower after drinking nectar and a child on his way to school, and her earnest disciples tried their best to enact the mudras.
“I learnt a lot of things after joining here. Earlier I did not know what Koodiyattom or Nangyar Koothu was. Now I have an idea,” says Hans, a fourth-standard student of Nirmala Bhavan School, Kowdiar.
“Children, these days, restrict themselves to watching cartoons and they need to be aware of the existence of such art forms. That was basically the objective and the artist, Margi Usha, is one of those people who recreate the culture for the common people,” says Asokan Puthuppadi, convener of the programme.
The camp stresses on the importance of not just art but also literature among the young crowd.
“We seek to highlight the relevance of Malayalam literature, in particular, among the children. They need to be taught to appreciate Malayalam works and authors,” he adds. As many as 550 students from Std. V to X are attending the camp. It is the 32nd camp being organised by the library since 1984.
