padmanabha
13th August 2006, 10:08 PM
[tscii:ea56157790]Valia Kottaram Kathakaliyogam with in the premises of Kuthira Malika is active once again. A team of kathakali artistes are engaged in restoring the centuries old masks, head dress, costumes and ornaments.
Masks and Kathakali? You may ask.
Though Kathakali make up is in no way natural for it deliberately alters the proportion of the human face, masks were never used. The thick color paints made on the spot are directly applied on the face. It allows full expression of the face and eyes enabling the performer to portray different emotions. How important or trivial or minor may be the character meticulous care is given over the application of the make up.
The vocabulary is so wide that it is not pragmatic to translate them by mudras alone. The actor has to show various sentiments with the help of eyes, eye brows, cheek, chin, nostrils, and lips. Every muscle functions in unison resulting in the manifestation of expressions. Hence masks are never used as they completely mask the expression which is the soul of Kathakali.
But for characters like Jatayu, Garuda, Hamsa, the serpent Karkodaka, and Narasimha, masks made of paala (spathe of areca palm) were in use.
But nearly a dozen of wooden antique masks of Hanuman, Angathan, Dakshan, and Mareechan, found in the Kaliyogam are the solid proof, for the practice of using them in Kathakali in its hay days.
“The restoration works are the result of the initiatives taken by H H Uthradom Tirunal Marthanda Varma. In our career as Kathakali performers we have not come across such marvelous pieces. We never knew that these kinds of masks were used in Kathakali. In fact it is a revelation” said Rameshan of Natyasala Kathakali Kendram based at Thirumala, and added: “The support rendered by the administrator Parameswaran Nair is worth mentioning. He provides us all facilities for executing the restoration process. In fact we demanded payment only for the materials, render our service free.” The members of Natyasala are regularly performing Kathakali at the Sree Padmanabha Temple during the ten days festival.
18TH and 19th centuries can be considered as the golden period of Kathakali. It reached its pinnacle of glory under the patronage of Travancore Royal Family. We had Karthika Tirunal Rama Varma (Dharma Raja), Aswati Tirunal Rama Varma, Swati Tirunal Rama Varma, and Utram Tirunal Marthanda Varma to author attakathas. Unnayi Warrier the author of Nalacharitham was the court poet of Marthanda Varma. Irayimman Thampi and her daughter Kuttikunchu Thanckachi were eminent composers.
Utram Tirunal Marthand Varma formed the Kaliyogam which later became Valia Kottaram Kathakali Yogam since he ascended the throne, in 1846. He amalgamated the chittas of Kaplingadan, Kalladikkodan, and Vettathu and trained the court performers. He was advised by the great Kathakali master Kudamaloor Vilayakodathu Nampothiri. This master brought eminent Kathakali performers from other regions of Kerala.
The Maharaja personally supervised the rehearsals, and the makings of Kathakali costumes, head dress, masks and other accessories. At times he himself performed Kathakali. Easwarapilla Vicharippukar, Pazhvangadi Nanupilla, Kochukrishnapilla I&II, Sekhara Warrier, Kandiyoor Pappuilla, Kittunni, Nalanunni, were the star performers who adorned the court of Utram Tirunal. He established Keralavilasom and published the works of Swati Tirunal and Irayimmen Thampi. Utram Tirunal is the author of Simhadwaja charitham attakkatha.
Coming back to the masks, they are all made from kumbil wood. There are no joints and all of them have very detailed intricate ornamentation. The movable lower jaw of Hanuman and the ear lobes of the ox remains one of the skills of perumthachan.
The costumes are gaudy. The skirts are extremely full with several layers. The head gears are light and hence comfortable. It looks like a multi-tired crown surmounted by an orb with a point, encircled by a halo. They are richly worked in colors of red, green, gold and silver. The inlaid works is done with, pieces of mirror, and beetles wings. The whole structure looks magnificent. It is secured to the head using cloth bands.
The mudi head dress are of three types-that of pacha, kari, and vatta mudi. By looking at the head gear we cannot find out the character except for Krishna who wears a peacock feather. But the head gear in the kaliyaogam is distinct in the sense that each character has a special head gear. If we look at the head dress of Siva, for instance we can see that the tonsured hair-do is encircled by a layer of rudraksham. It is adorned with a crescent and the figure of Ganga. The hood of Vasuki is seen atop the head gear.
Other striking accessories include the wooden doll and mulakollaram used in Santhanagopalm, and a conch used in Dakshyagam. The wooden conch is a tricky one. As per the story, sati is identified within a conch on a lotus. When the conch is unlocked a tiny doll representing Sati emerges from within.
The attavilakku, the idol of Saraswathi in standing posture, wooden aniyara vilakku and even the boxes used to store these accessories, look magnificent. After restoration these remarkable pieces will be displayed at the Palace Museum.
S.UMA MAHESWARI
[/tscii:ea56157790]
Masks and Kathakali? You may ask.
Though Kathakali make up is in no way natural for it deliberately alters the proportion of the human face, masks were never used. The thick color paints made on the spot are directly applied on the face. It allows full expression of the face and eyes enabling the performer to portray different emotions. How important or trivial or minor may be the character meticulous care is given over the application of the make up.
The vocabulary is so wide that it is not pragmatic to translate them by mudras alone. The actor has to show various sentiments with the help of eyes, eye brows, cheek, chin, nostrils, and lips. Every muscle functions in unison resulting in the manifestation of expressions. Hence masks are never used as they completely mask the expression which is the soul of Kathakali.
But for characters like Jatayu, Garuda, Hamsa, the serpent Karkodaka, and Narasimha, masks made of paala (spathe of areca palm) were in use.
But nearly a dozen of wooden antique masks of Hanuman, Angathan, Dakshan, and Mareechan, found in the Kaliyogam are the solid proof, for the practice of using them in Kathakali in its hay days.
“The restoration works are the result of the initiatives taken by H H Uthradom Tirunal Marthanda Varma. In our career as Kathakali performers we have not come across such marvelous pieces. We never knew that these kinds of masks were used in Kathakali. In fact it is a revelation” said Rameshan of Natyasala Kathakali Kendram based at Thirumala, and added: “The support rendered by the administrator Parameswaran Nair is worth mentioning. He provides us all facilities for executing the restoration process. In fact we demanded payment only for the materials, render our service free.” The members of Natyasala are regularly performing Kathakali at the Sree Padmanabha Temple during the ten days festival.
18TH and 19th centuries can be considered as the golden period of Kathakali. It reached its pinnacle of glory under the patronage of Travancore Royal Family. We had Karthika Tirunal Rama Varma (Dharma Raja), Aswati Tirunal Rama Varma, Swati Tirunal Rama Varma, and Utram Tirunal Marthanda Varma to author attakathas. Unnayi Warrier the author of Nalacharitham was the court poet of Marthanda Varma. Irayimman Thampi and her daughter Kuttikunchu Thanckachi were eminent composers.
Utram Tirunal Marthand Varma formed the Kaliyogam which later became Valia Kottaram Kathakali Yogam since he ascended the throne, in 1846. He amalgamated the chittas of Kaplingadan, Kalladikkodan, and Vettathu and trained the court performers. He was advised by the great Kathakali master Kudamaloor Vilayakodathu Nampothiri. This master brought eminent Kathakali performers from other regions of Kerala.
The Maharaja personally supervised the rehearsals, and the makings of Kathakali costumes, head dress, masks and other accessories. At times he himself performed Kathakali. Easwarapilla Vicharippukar, Pazhvangadi Nanupilla, Kochukrishnapilla I&II, Sekhara Warrier, Kandiyoor Pappuilla, Kittunni, Nalanunni, were the star performers who adorned the court of Utram Tirunal. He established Keralavilasom and published the works of Swati Tirunal and Irayimmen Thampi. Utram Tirunal is the author of Simhadwaja charitham attakkatha.
Coming back to the masks, they are all made from kumbil wood. There are no joints and all of them have very detailed intricate ornamentation. The movable lower jaw of Hanuman and the ear lobes of the ox remains one of the skills of perumthachan.
The costumes are gaudy. The skirts are extremely full with several layers. The head gears are light and hence comfortable. It looks like a multi-tired crown surmounted by an orb with a point, encircled by a halo. They are richly worked in colors of red, green, gold and silver. The inlaid works is done with, pieces of mirror, and beetles wings. The whole structure looks magnificent. It is secured to the head using cloth bands.
The mudi head dress are of three types-that of pacha, kari, and vatta mudi. By looking at the head gear we cannot find out the character except for Krishna who wears a peacock feather. But the head gear in the kaliyaogam is distinct in the sense that each character has a special head gear. If we look at the head dress of Siva, for instance we can see that the tonsured hair-do is encircled by a layer of rudraksham. It is adorned with a crescent and the figure of Ganga. The hood of Vasuki is seen atop the head gear.
Other striking accessories include the wooden doll and mulakollaram used in Santhanagopalm, and a conch used in Dakshyagam. The wooden conch is a tricky one. As per the story, sati is identified within a conch on a lotus. When the conch is unlocked a tiny doll representing Sati emerges from within.
The attavilakku, the idol of Saraswathi in standing posture, wooden aniyara vilakku and even the boxes used to store these accessories, look magnificent. After restoration these remarkable pieces will be displayed at the Palace Museum.
S.UMA MAHESWARI
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