History of Kathakali

Besides the Nataraja figure , the face of the Kathakali artist has perhaps been one of the most exploited ones in modern media and propaganda campaigns. The green mask painted on a face which is almost shadowed by the huge crown on top of the head, which is used to represent Indian art is well known all over the world. However the grandeur of this art form can be felt only if one sees a live performance in an open air theatre with huge oil lamps lighting the artists and sounds of the drums surging through one's blood.

I am often confronted with people who mistake Kathak and Kathakali. Just to clarify here that - Kathak is from the north and Kathakali is from the state of Kerala and no styles could be more different than each other.

Kathakali is preceded by a style called the Krishna attam. The ruler of Calicut in the 17th century was immensely impressed by the Geeta Govinda. The Geeta Govinda is work in Sanskrit (c. 12th AD)about the love of Radha and Krishna by the poet Jayadeva. He ruled that everyday the Geet Govinda should be recited in the Guruvayur temple. This practice is still maintained as of this day. Besides this he wrote a poem on the life of Lord Krishna called the Krishnageeti and asked this to be performed at the temple. This style was the precursor of Kathakali called the Krishnattam. This was a masked dance drama. Another ruler of Kottarakara saw this play and was so impressed that he requested the Zamorin of Calicut to send the troupe to his kingdom. The Zamorin refused and this angered the ruler of Kotarakara. He decided then to create his own play on the life of God Rama called the Ramanattam. This was in Malayalam the language of the people whereas Krishnattam was in Sanskrit. Soon Ramanattam became popular and spread everywhere.

The ruler Tampuran of Kottayam then gave it the fillip that it needed to become the now famous ' Kathakali'. Besides improving the costumes and make up so that the facial expresssions were emphasised, he also selected interesting dramatic plots for presentation. He chose episodes from the Mahabharata which were more attractive to the audiences. He also renamed the style calling it 'Katha'- story + 'kali' - act or play.

However even with all these changes Kathakali remained in the shadows till the advent of the great poet Vallathol. This 'renaissance man' for Kathakali was so enamoured with the art that out of his own savings he started the 'Kerala Kalamandalam'. This is a ground breaking institution for the art and through the work of Vallathol and the gurus like Kunju Kurup, at this institute Kathakali has acquired world wide recognition.

One of the great living performers this art today in Kerala is Guru Ramankutty who both teaches and performs all over the world with his troupe.

Another well known Guru and practitioner of this style in Bombay is Guru Gopalakrishnan.