For the Catholic Christians in Kerala, Arnos Pathiri’s Puthen Pana is a familiar composition, which they sing as part of prayers during Holy Week. But this year, they enjoyed something more of the priest’s work. Chetana Ganasramam, helmed by Fr. Paul Poovathingal, produced a music-dance video of the poem, Ummayude Dukham (Mother’s grief), and it was telecast by a few channels on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday.
The German Jesuit priest and missionary, Johann Ernat Hanxleden, known as Arnos Pathiri in Kerala, arrived here in 1700 at the age of 19. He was known for his contributions as a Malayalam and Sanskrit poet, grammarian and lexicographer. Inspired by the famous work, Jnanapanam, by the devotional poet Poonthanam, he composed Puthen Pana, which narrated in full the life of Christ. Ummayude dukham, in turn, was a touching portrayal of Mary’s grief over the sufferings and death of her son.
Composed in 22 couplets, it opens with a request to listen to the pain and agony of Christ with an open mind. The lamentations of Mary while looking at her son’s body after the crucifixion form the rest of the poem. In the last two couplets, the poet concludes with a supplication to Mary “to wash the stains of my mind with the blood of your son and fill me with goodness”.
Poem in concert style
In the audio-visual production, the poem is rendered by Fr. Paul in concert style and its interpretation through dance appears alternately on the screen.
Fr. Paul Poovathingal
To begin with, an air of melancholy is created by the playing of the violin and veena and through the choice of the raga Sahana. A group of four Mohiniyattam dancers interpret the lines rendered by Fr. Paul before launching into pure nritta to the accompaniment of a chorus and music. Both mother and son appear as the successive verses are sung. As the pallavi is repeated, the background music along with a fleet of swaras can be heard as the dancers perform in a group.
The incidents leading to the arrest of Christ, his subsequent torture, finally leading to the crucifixion unfold through well-choreographed dance sequences. A certain inventiveness in choreography was discernible in the portrayal of the cross and the crucifixion by the dancers. Towards the finale, the dancers recreated Michelangelo’s famous Pieta.
Music for the 17-minute production is by Fr. Paul Poovathingal, set in a ragamalika. He is assisted by noted violinist Abdul Aziz. The seven ragas beginning with Sahana and ending with Ahir Bhairav appropriately convey the essence of the verses. The background score, which lends a beautiful dimension to the show, is by Thrissur Pauly.
The dance sequences have been put together by Kalamandalam Husnabhanu and Kalamandalam Sherin. While Sherin donned the role of Mother Mary, Kiran Krishnakumar who portrayed Christ appeared a bit too young for the role.
The writer and culture critic is a trained musician.
