UNESCO recognised Koodiyattam as a ‘Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity’ in 2001 and it wouldn’t be wrong to say that the title helped the art form to gain nation-wide attention. A few years later, a dedicated centre for Koodiyattam was established by the Sangeet Natak Academy, and since then, it has played a key role in preserving and propagating the art form. Going beyond sanctioning funds and arranging performances, the Sangeet Natak Academy Kuttiyatam Kendra (SNAKuK) has now recognised the need for a more substantive intervention so as to take the art form to a wider audience, without losing its identity, and still making it relevant to the present times. There are a few institutions and individual performers working on similar goals and to bring them all together, the Centre recently organised a three-day Koodiyattam workshop in Thiruvananthapuram. Novel venture The gathering of all active Koodiyattam practitioners, of different age groups and different schools, on a single platform to discuss and interact on their art was, perhaps, the very first of its kind, as far as the art form is concerned. Ettumanoor P. Kannan, the present director of Kuttiyattam Kendra said that the event was inspired from the understanding that Koodiyattam is at a stage where it cannot go forward without all artistes working together and becoming more democratic in their approach. By giving an opportunity to all the artistes, irrespective of their seniority, the event has indeed tried to deliver this message to its participants. The event had its own challenges and Kannan was all praise for the office staff of Kuttiyattam Kendra. Necessary funding from SNA made sure that the programme had all the backing required to make it happen. The workshop was truly of the artistes, by the artistes and for the artistes and the success of it came from the fact that everybody owned the event. The three days were packed with paper presentations, lecture demonstrations, self-choreographed performances and follow-up discussions on related topics. As it was not intended for a general audience, regular performances with costume et. al. were not included in the event. Almost all the artistes were glad that Kutiyattam Kendra has taken up such an initiative and some of them were keen to express it in on social media. Kalamandalam Rajeev, mizhavu player, mentioned on Facebook, that the highlight of the event was its participation. Almost all the artistes, including the likes of nonagenarian Narayanan Nambiar asan, were present throughout. “Famed gurus, senior artistes, scholars, percussionists, all were there along with youngsters, and it certainly is a promising sign,” he added. Enriching experience Kapila Venu was generous in her praise for the event, as she shared in her post: “It was an important and highly enriching experience for every one. It leaves us, especially the younger generation, with a feeling of being one big family. We were reconnected on many levels after a long period of being distanced from each other. One gets the feeling that this is the beginning of a lot of enriching collaborations, companionship and interaction in the world of Koodiyattam.” Interestingly, Kalamandalam Sivan Namboothiri, the first one to practice Koodiyattam outside the Chakyar community and a Padma Shri recipient, also shared the same sentiment of a great family reunion and it was certainly an encouragement to all members of the Koodiyattam fraternity. While complimenting the event, senior artistes Ammannur Parameswara Chakyar and Margi Madhu added that there were a lot of topics included and the allotted time was not enough to have a proper presentation and a meaningful interaction. Usha Nangiar mentioned that it would be good if such events could also look into some of the problems faced by the gurukulams (institutions), rather than limiting activities to discussions on the art form. Kalamandalam Girija opined that the centre should make sure that all youngsters take part in such events. An interesting proposition came from Venu G., chairman of Natanakairali, that youngsters should be given a space/session of their own, where they could freely interact, without the involvement of the seniors. Also, he hoped that the centre could arrange workshops like this on a regular basis, at least once or twice every year. Platform for talent “The whole purpose of the event was to create a platform where artistes could interact and it certainly fulfilled that purpose. It was a pleasing sight to see the artistes in small groups continuing their conversations even after the formal sessions. What they discussed and how far they discussed it is not imperative at this point. What really matters, as far as Kuttiyattam Kendra is concerned, is that the space has been created,” said Ettumanoor Kannan. Shekhar Sen, the chairman of Sangeet Natak Akademi, released the directory of Koodiyattam artistes as part of the event. A 10-lecture series on ‘Natyasastra Tradition in Kerala’ in University centres and a five-day Koodiyattam Maholtsavam at Thrissur are the next programmes on the cards.

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