The  Living  Arts

By Narayana Menon

Temple Theatre

Chakyars and Nambiars are two communities of Kerala who have been closely associated with the ritual of worship in temples. These rituals vary from simple routine matters such as the gathering of flowers for the daily pooja to artistic emanations of the highest sophistication, which take place in the Koothambalams of great temples.

The Koothambalams are unique institutions within the precincts of a Kerala temple. Koothambalam literally means ‘temple-theatre’. This is a theatre where kings and ministers, aristocrats and Kshatriya warriors, rich merchants, poets and intellectuals gathered to witness performance of Koothu & Koodiyattam. Architecturally, some of the Koothambalams, like the one at Vatakkunnatha Temple at Trichur, are marvels of structural workmanship with sloping roofs of carefully enmeshed copper plates, austere, dignified, aloof. This is a playhouse for Gods and Goddesses, for the worshippers and worshipped, and there is an aura of mystery about it, both outwardly and inwardly. The Proportions, the elevations of the theatre are both artistically and functionally satisfying. There are appropriate places for the kings and the aristocracy, for the pandits and the critics, not to mention large areas for the community as a whole. Then placing of the large ‘Mizhav’, centrally just off stage, sets the tone for the austere yet impressive décor, dominated by the tall oil lamp and a para of heaped paddy holding in position a rich golden corn of coconut  ‘flower’. This is the setting for a Koodiyattam performance. Koodiyattam literally means dancing together – dancing / acting / performing. What is its relationship to Koothu? Dr. Kunjunni Raja, head of the department of Sanskrit at the University of Madras, and one completely conversant with the traditional arts of Kerala, particularly those with the strong components of Sanskrit says: “There are two types of Koothu in Kerala. The Prabhadham Koothu, popularly known as Koothu, is concerned with the exposition of Puranic stories by the actor in the role of  ‘Vidhushaka’. The other is actual staging of Sanskrit plays called Koodiyattam.”

Painkulam Raman Chakyar like Killikkurissimangalam Mani Madhava Chakyar, the doyen of Chakyars today and Ammannur Madhava Chakyar, was a fine exponent of both. Koothu gave even more scope for social and political satire than Koodiyattam. The Chakyar in a performance of Koothu had the freedom enjoyed by the ‘King’s Jester’ to comment on the current problems, on political and even personal scandals. No one was spared. Not even the King. And there have been many instances, often unkind, often even brutal, when the Chakyar expose the weaknesses the foibles, the wickedness of Brahmins, of the aristocracy, of leading social figures, if made pointed references to the court scandals in involving the king, without attracting even a mild rebuke. These hardly ever degenerated into malicious gossip.

Painkulam Raman Chakyar was a master of ‘Vachikabhinaya – Abhinaya’ through words, speech. Vocalization – an essential requirement for Koothu. In both Koothu & Koodiyattam, the speaking parts are stylized and intoned in a very special kind of way. The words are delivered as in a recitative, but with much more deliberation, slow, measured, and syllable-by-syllable and they become a kind of ‘utterance’.

Many of the plays in Koodiyattam literature – Subhadradananjaya, Tapatisamvarana, AsSwapnavasavadatta, Mattavilasa, Kalyanasaugandhika, which were all obviously known and performed in the various Koothambalams of Kerala, co-existed with such treatises as Matanga’s Brihaddesi. Could Matanga Muni have been unaware of the music of Koodiyattam and Koodiyattam of Matanga?  Many of these texts had close affinities to Kerala. How is it that the great exponents of Koodiyattam show little awareness of the musical literature of their times, even of the chapters on music of such treatises as Natya Shastra and the commentaries on it, texts to which they paid lip service?

These are difficult questions to answer. But with the growing interest in Koodiyattam, researchers will no doubt take up such questions for serious investigation. But to get back to Painkulam. He was the head of one of the half dozen Chakyar families in Kerala today who carry on, hereditarily as it were, the practice and the traditions of such art forms as Koothu and Koodiyattam. Until recently, these forms were never seen outside the precincts of the Kerala temples. Mani Madhava Chakyar of Killikurissimangalam took Koothu & Koodiyattam to such places as Madras, Bombay, Delhi, and Benaras and performed for President Radhakrishnan at Rashtrapati Bhavan some years ago. He performed for the Sangeet Natak Academy in Delhi, at National Centre for the Performing Arts in Bombay and appeared on Television. Ammannoor Madhva Chakyar has also performed outside Kerala.

Painkulam Raman Chakyar went even further. He took his art to Europe and performed extensively there to select audiences only a few weeks before his death. Raman Chakyar was born in 1910 in Thrichur. He had the traditional training in Koothu & Koodiyattam, and other closely allied forms for several years, under his uncle Painkulam Narayana Chakyar and under Ammannur Parameswara Chakyar. Along with this, as is the picture, he also studied Sanskrit. Even as a young man he excelled in ‘Abhinaya’ , all the four aspects of it – Angika, Vachika, aharya and satwika. Soon he was known, respected and much admired wherever he performed, and was a familiar figure in the Koothambalams of Kerala. He was one of the first Chakyars to break an old tradition and teach non-Chakyar students his difficult art. He also presented non-traditional subjects and themes on the Sanskrit stage such as Prabhandha on the great Sanskrit poet Narayana Bhattathiripad.

For many years Painkulam was Professor and head of the department of Koothu and Koodiyattam at Kerala Kalamandalam, the first time that the teaching of these two art forms was institutionalized. The Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Academy conferred on him the Award for Koodiyattam in 1972; and it was on June 20, 1980 only six weeks before his death that the Kalamandalam honored him similarly. At the age of 70, he was still an active and lively performer, as Chakyars and Kathakali dancers frequently are.

So when I say we shall miss him, it is not just a conventional expression or regret when an ‘ageing’ and distinguished performer dies. We have in fact lost one of the three great exponents of this theatre/dance form. There are two short documentary films available to us, which, naturally cannot convey the depth of feeling, the discipline, the controlled deliberate gestures, steps, movement, of the rare link we still have with traditional Sanskrit theatre, but there are glimpses of greatness in them, and we should be thankful for small mercies.