Kerala's centuries-old classical Sanskrit drama ‘Koodiyattam' may have been declared by UNESCO as a cultural “heritage of humanity” some years ago, but today practitioners are struggling to make ends meet due to lack of proper support for the art.

The traditional theatre was selected for the coveted tag by the UN agency, which had till then reserved it for tangible heritages like monuments, from among 23 entries from the world over by a panel of distinguished selectors. The declaration was joyously welcomed by classical enthusiasts and cultural journals were flooded with write-ups and pictures of Koodiyattam.

But the ancient performing art is struggling to remain live on stage for want of proper institutional support and declining interest in classical arts among the new generation.

UNESCO had declared Koodiyattam as a “masterpiece of then oral and intangible heritage of humanity” ten years ago.

But with the fanfare having largely died down, the 2,000-year-old art form is left to a handful of cash-strapped artistes in Kerala who find it hard to keep it alive without harming its classical purity.

Support required

“We expected that the long-neglected art form would receive greater support after it was bestowed the heritage title by UNESCO. But our hopes have been belied,” Saji Narayanan, a leading artist and trainer, told PTI.

Koodiyattam is a refined and fine form of stage tradition which pays great emphasis on depicting the nuances of emotions through facial and ocular expressions. So, it would take years for a young boy or girl to learn the acting and graduate into a professional performer, he said.

“Who in these days would choose a career that is not going to benefit you in your life? Even if a boy or a girl has great talent, passion and dedication, he or she would drop out after a while,” Sindhu, a teacher and performer, said.

“It will at least take six years to learn the basics and that too by undergoing the training on a daily basis. The slokas (verses) do not have notations and they need strenuous practice to be learnt by heart for staging,” he said.

Interestingly, Koodiyattam has been the only prominent performing tradition in Kerala in which both male and female artists have had their roles.

The ancient drama was traditionally performed by people belonging to a temple caste called ‘Chakyars'.

The Sanskrit verses of the drama are rendered from backstage by women of the same caste known as ‘Nangyaramma'

In temples, a Koodiyattam performance often used to be preceded by solo acting and singing by a woman artist, called ‘Nangyarkoothu.'

School event

“UNESCO's declaration remains in papers. The government or state's cultural agencies have done nothing to encourage Koodiyattam unlike other temple arts like Kathakali,” Saji said.

“We can hardly make both ends meet by the meagre fee we get by giving lessons to a few children who show interest in Koodiyattam,” he said.

The traditional art is an item in the Kerala state school youth festival, claimed to be Asia's biggest youth cultural event, and this has helped it from slipping into oblivion.

Saji said this brings some money for some artists with parents approaching them to give quick lessons to their sons or daughters to compete and win prices.

The Margi Koodiyattam institute, which was instrumental in drawing the art form to UNESCO's attention, was set up here in 1981 at the initiative of classical enthusiasts like D Appukuttan Nair.

Margi has 11 teachers, some of them specialists in percussion drums and instruments like ‘mizhavu', ‘kuzhithalam', ‘edakka' and ‘kurumkuzhal' used for the performance.

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