Latest news with #Koodiyattam
The Hindu
15-07-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Memorial for Mani Madhava Chakyar comes up at his birthplace in Kozhikode
Minister for Cultural Affairs Saji Cherian on Tuesday opened a cultural studies centre named after well-known Koodiyattam exponent Mani Madhava Chakyar at his birthplace in Arikkulam Grama Panchayat in Kozhikode district. Mr. Cherian said that Chakyar, a recipient of the Padma Shri, had made immense contributions to the cultural heritage of Kerala. It was the duty of the government to respect the memories of such great artistes, the Minister said. The centre has been built at Karayad near the Thiruvangayur Shiva Temple in Arikkulam Grama Panchayat. It was constructed on 10 cents of land donated by Chakyar's family. T.P. Ramakrishnan, MLA, sanctioned ₹75 lakh for the construction works from his local area development funds. The Panthalayini Block Panchayat allocated Rs. 3 lakh for the furniture there.
The Hindu
29-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
Gender Agenda Newsletter : A third space
Have you been following the conversation around third spaces and the lack of them in India? In the last week, we've encountered several instances of queer people and women — both communities that rarely access third space — creating opportunities and experiences for others like them to access spaces of culture, art, and fitness. A heartening development, indeed. Like Prashanti Ganesh, the founder of Ladies Club, an all-women's gym in Chennai training women to lift heavy and get strong. In this story, she says there is a dramatic spike in the number of women occupying the gym floor — women who seek weight-lifting to get strong, no longer just to lose weight. Through the process, she has fostered the growth of an enriching fitness community, where there is coffee, romantic Tamil music, and deadlifts by women who hit 125 kilograms. There are no mirrors and weighing scales. People from 16 to 65 with different body types work out here. So what is thirdspace? Edward Soja introduces us to three spaces in his book Thirdspace: Journeys to Los Angeles and Other Real-and-Imagined Places (1996). This article states that a material space where one can touch, measure, and map (like roads and buildings) is the first space. The second is controlled by those with power, including urban planners, governments, and developers. The third space is where people actually live, remember, resist, and build meaning. It is shaped by emotion and identity. In Hyderabad, Nique Singh Ningthoujam, a trans musician, is putting his voice out there to prevent erasure. His concerts are free so that there are no barriers to entry. A similar notion had informed the Dayamma Theatre Festival a cultural festival that celebrates queer people from the margins through plays, cabaret, and record dances. Srijith, the curator of the festival, says that it was essential for the festival to be free because stages in consulates tend to be deemed privileged. 'It is rare for the queer community, especially trans people, to sit in such large crowds, truly being themselves. An entry fee cannot be a barrier,' he says. A 2021 global survey by market research and consulting firm Ipsos, four out of 10 urban Indians reported feeling lonely and friendless at most times, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. Hangout spots (attis or addas) where people usually speak, have shrunk, as most conversations are now online. But many of these addas, usually cinema halls, performance venues, and tea shops, have mostly been inaccessible to women and queer folk, especially those from marginalised communities. If they are, they are only so during the daytime. A 2,000-year-old traditional art form, Koodiyattam has always seen women perform as female characters. Yet, the stage and plays have been largely male centric. In recent years, there have been many firsts for women in this cultural space. Mricchakatikam, a play written in the fifth century, rarely performed by women in the lead, saw Koodiyattam exponent Kapila Venu play the role of an intelligent, generous, cultured, and wealthy woman. 'In my portrayal of her, I want to emphasise her independence and power,' says Venu, speaking of claiming space on a stage that has not always put women in the lead. I've experienced gender euphoria at two of these four feminist third spaces: the gym and the trans theatre festival. The camaraderie and joy of feminine cackling is one that I deeply cherish and would love more of. I'd like to create a petition for more such spaces. Any co-signers? Wordsworth Mankeeping: The labour that women take on to accommodate men who feel a loss of their social networks. While men may believe that unburdening on women is a natural part of their relationship, most women call it work. Mankeeping often includes reducing the burden of men's isolation from families due to their declining social networks and heterosexual bonds. Toolkit Take a look at Super Gay Poems: LGBTQIA+ Poetry after Stonewall by Stephanie Burt, a Harvard University professor. Each of the 51 poems sheds light on the transformation of queerness over the decades since 1969, the year of the Stonewall riots, which marked an important chapter in the history of the gay rights movement both in the U.S. and across the world. In this interview ( with The Hindu, the author says, 'the more visible more of us get, and the clearer it gets — to cisgender people, to straight people, to people in or near positions of power — that we're just living our lives, that we can't go back, that we're not a threat to them.' Ouch! 'If a friend rapes another friend, then how will the government authorities provide protection in such cases? Do you want to deploy police in educational institutions? Police cannot be in every corner.' Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee on the rape of a law college student in Kolkata. Women we meet Aruvi is a 30-year-old trans woman teacher who speaks of computer programming to college students and industry freshers. She also is part of Kattiyakkari, a theatre company. This Pride Month, at the Alliance Francaise of Madras, she performed her play Body/Boundaries, adapted from an essay by Professor Susan Stryker, a trans person who retired from the University of Arizona's Gender and Women's Studies department. 'Stryker compares the trans body sympathetically to Frankenstein's monster. Trans people often get the sense, at some point in their lives, that they would feel more comfortable in a body that looks, feels, and behaves differently. For many of us it is a nameless pain, until we see that we can set ourselves free by transitioning,' Aruvi says. She hopes to take Body/Boundaries to many more venues and live out her childhood dream of being a teacher.
The Hindu
25-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
Koodiyattam exponent Kapila Venu breaks the glass ceiling yet again in the new play Mricchakatikam
Koodiyattam, India's only surviving Sanskrit theatre form, still has an untapped goldmine of ancient texts to dip into. The latest Koodiyattam play is Mricchakatikam (The Little Clay Cart), written by King Sudraka in the 5th Century, and has been directed by celebrated guru G Venu of Natanakairali, Irinjalakuda Mricchakatikam differs from the usual Koodiyattam repertoire as its story does not revolve around kings, gods or characters from the epics, but around commoners, love, friendship and a political coup. Perhaps, a major reason why Mricchakatikam, with a thief and a courtesan as its core plot, was never considered apt for Koodiyattam. Even Kalidasa's Sakunthalam, a famed Sanskrit play was not featured in Koodiyattam till Venu adapted it to the stage in 2001. He is known to combine theatre with themes and socio-political consciousness. 'When I took to Koodiyattam in 1976, women were not given much importance though they performed female roles. It has been my dream to present plays with strong female leads.' Post the success of Shakuntalam, he directed Vikramorvasiyam and Urubhangam — with Urvashi and Gandhari, respectively — as central characters. In all these plays, Venu's daughter Kapila Venu, has played the lead. In Mricchakatikam Kapila portrays Vasantasena, while Sooraj Nambiar plays Charudatta. Nepathya Sreehari Chakyar plays Sarvilaka the thief, while Pothiyil Ranjith Chakyar dons the role of Karnapooraka, the mahout. Margi Sajeev Narayana Chakyar, Sankar Venkateswaran, Kalamandalam Jishnu Pratap, Sarita Krishnakumar and Margi Anjana Chakyar are the other actors who portray pivotal characters in the play. Mricchakatikam has a complicated storyline and over 30 characters in it, each having a crucial role to play in the plot. At the surface level, it is a romantic tale between a poor merchant and a wealthy courtesan, but, its underlying theme is about class, wealth, political corruption and redemption. And like many classical artforms, the focus is not on the plot but its presentation. 'Vasantasena is unlike any character I have played before. She is intelligent, generous, cultured, educated and wealthy . It is beautiful that she sees these very qualities in Charudatta and is drawn to him. In my portrayal of her, I emphasise her independence and power,' says Kapila. According to Venu, 'Koodiyattam has the theatrical elements to make the audience believe there is an elephant on stage.' He also makes a bold statement in the climax of the play, by having Vasantasena perform the ritualistic mudiyakkitha, traditionally performed by the male lead. He explains: 'Vasantasena is no ordinary heroine. She is independent, virtuous and philanthropic. Hence, I decided to have her perform the mudiyakkitha. We need to take such bold decisions to acknowledge that today more women are taking up this art form compared to men.' Kapila too believes that the climax will be a moment of historic significance. 'Bharathavakyam, the final benediction of the play and the mudiyakkitha ritual marks the culmination of a Koodiyattam play and carry deep spiritual and theatrical meanings. The right to perform this ritual was restricted to the male actor.' The biggest challenge for Venu was 'to condense the 10-act play to a two-and-a-half-hour one. It had to be done if Koodiyattam had to stay relevant and adapt to the demands of the modern audience. My first version of Sakunthalam ran into 13-and-a-half hours and was staged over four days. Though it was appreciated, we could not stage many shows. Then we came up with a shorter version, which was a success and is being performed even today.' The idea to stage Mricchakatikam was encouraged by the late theatre director Habib Tanvir, who had adapted it to the stage first using folk forms. 'He watched our plays and suggested we do Mricchakatikam and was convinced that Koodiyattam could achieve what his folk version could not,' shares Venu. 'Initially, we were not sure if this was adaptable to Koodiyattam. After several readings for a month, I wrote the play to include all the layers of its aesthetic potential. But, that ran into five-and-a-half-hours. After another four months of rehearsals, it was cut down to a duration of two-and-a-half hours,' states Venu. Percussion for Mricchakatikam is by Kalamandalam Rajiv, Hariharan and Vineesh on the mizhavu, with Kalanilayam Unnikrishnan on the Idakka and Gurukulam Athulya on talam. There is also the addition of kurumkuzhal, a wind instrument, rarely used in Koodiyattam. Mricchakatikam, produced by Natanakairali and supported by the Bhoomija Trust, Bengaluru, will premiere at Ranga Shankara in Bengaluru, on July 1 and 2 at Ranga Shankara.
The Hindu
31-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
Yakshagana Kalaranga of Udupi honours 50 artists above 70 years with Suvarna Puraskar
Chairman of Karnataka Yakshagana Academy Talluru Shivarama Shetty on Saturday asked Yakshagana artists to ensure that there were no aberrations in the performances. The artists should uphold the tradition of the art form, he said. He was addressing the artists at a programme organised by Yakshagana Kalaranga of Udupi to felicitate 50 Yakshagana artists who were aged above 70, on the occasion of the Kalaranga celebrating its golden jubilee. Mr. Shetty said that the academy has been receiving letters from Yakshagana fans that the academy should intervene as the trend of many artists deviating from the tradition, especially by going out of context in the delivery of dialogues, is increasing. Yakshagana's tradition should be maintained within its framework. The chairman said that artists have the responsibility of saving Yakshagana in its true form and pass on the tradition to future generations. The Kalaranga honoured each of the 50 senior artists with its Yakshagana Kalaranga Suvarna Puraskar with a purse of ₹50,000 to each. At a session on the topic 'Whether Yakshagana should continue as a full-time profession or a part-time job' organised on the occasion, senior Yakshagana artist Kondadakuli Ramachandra Hegde said that none can stop amateur and part-time performers from performing in Yakshagana. Many debates held on the topic at various platforms earlier did not arrive at any conclusion, Mr. Hegde said. He said that a day might come when there may not be any full-time performers. Another senior artiste Permude Jayaprakash Shetty said that part-time performers can not do justice to the art form in its true sense. If Yakshagana is to sustain in its true form an artist will have to be a full-time performer, he said. Artists of Madhava Matru Gramam Koodiyattam Gurukulam, Thrissur, Kerala presented a Koodiyattam show. Kasturba Medical College, Manipal conducted a free health check up for Yakshagana artists. Seer of Puthige Mutt Sugunendra Tirtha, seer of Pejawar Mutt Vishwaprasanna Tirtha, Yashpal Suvarna, Kiran Kumar Kodgi, MLAs, secretary of the Kalaranga Murali Kadekar and president of the Kalaranga M. Gangadhar Rao participated.
Time of India
29-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
At Margi, women take up male roles in Koodiyattam
T'puram: Three women artists took centre stage at Margi Natyagriham on Tuesday evening with their Koodiyattam performance. The show was unique as the women performed the roles of male characters in the play, unlike the usual practice of women staging the roles of female characters and men that of male characters. A lack of enough male artists forced them to take on the roles of male characters, said the artists. The play, titled ' Shoorpanakhankam ', is about demoness Shoorpanakha from the Hindu epic Ramayana. The role of Rama was played by Margi Amrutha, 29, of Karamana, Lakshmana and Sita by Margi Parvathy Pradeep, 18, of Mukkolakkal and Shoorpanakha by Margi Anjana Chakiar, 21, of Valiyasala. "Playing a male character was difficult as it required much effort to rise to the character. Rendering the slogans in male voices and adjusting the body language required utmost rehearsed extra days to stage the play with utmost perfection," said Anjana. Sajeev Narayana Chakiar, head of the Koodiyattam department at Margi, said the art form faces a shortage of male artists as not many men are coming forward to learn it. "In Kerala Kalamandalam, only one male student is learning Koodiyattam and in Margi, there is not even a single male student. The shortage of male artists forces us to go ahead with women to play male roles and it is going to be a trendsetter now," Sajeev said.
