The Hindu Business Line : Kshetra Kalapeetom: A unique school for temple arts

THE Kshetra Kalapeetom at Vaikom near here run by the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) to train youths in temple arts has become a unique institution that not only helps to retain the ancient art forms but also a source to cater to the needs of the temples in Kerala and elsewhere in the world.

The Kalapeetom, which will be celebrating its silver jubilee next year, conduct three-year courses in playing the musical instruments, drawing large pictures of deities (known as Kalamezhuthu) on the floor using natural coloured powders, and singing Sopana Sangeetham. The curricula include temple rituals and rites.

This is probably the only one in the State providing courses in almost all the temple arts. Every year 65 students are given admission to the Kalapeetom, which is run like a "Gurukulam".

The students have to live in the hostel provided by the TDB close to the Vaikom Mahadevar Temple. Boarding is also provided. The Board spends Rs 500 a month on each student, Mr G. Raman Nair, President, TDB, told Business Line. He said that in connection with the silver jubilee, the Board was planning introduce some more welfare measures for the students.

In the past, these temple arts were performed by traditional families associated with the temples. The elders in those days were training their children in these arts so as to enable them to take over their jobs in temples when they get old. But as the years passed by and under the influence of modernism, youths started finding it neither lucrative nor respectable. As a result, such a situation had emerged that there was an acute shortage of artistes.

Given this situation, the Board in 1980 decided to set up the Kalapeetom, which now provides professional training to youths who have the aptitude and liking for the job. It is evident from the background of the students here who are either economically backward or have an inherent liking for this profession, he said.

Already, 1,500 students successfully completed the course and almost all of them had been absorbed by the Board in its temples. Besides, they could find employment in temples administered by the Cochin Devaswom Board and those controlled by the Religious Endowment Department in the Malabar region.

Even many have found employment in temples outside Kerala and the country. Apart from the temples, there is regular a demand for performers in festivals of other religious groups, tourism and political functions etc.

Prof Thakazhi Sankara Narayanan, Head of the Institution, said that Kalapeetom has received acceptance outside the State also. The Puttaparthi Music University has selected it as a training centre.

The musical instruments used in Kerala temples are more than 20 in number and they have peculiar regional characteristics, he said. The students are taught to play on 10 types of drums, such as Itayka, Chenda, Thavil, Sudha Maddalam and Kitu-piti, three types of Gongs; wind instruments such as Conch Shell, Kombu and Nadawaram and string instrument "Nanthuni".

Besides they are trained to sing Sopana Sangeetham using the most revered instrument Itayka.Some students told Business Line that they had taken up the course because of the employment potential while some said they have a liking for these art forms.

However, they also said that once all the vacancies in the State temples were filled, there would emerge stagnation creating unemployment in the future. But, still they are optimistic that they would be able to make a living with the art, which would be in demand outside.

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