CHAPTER IV

Nangiarkuttu -

As a Theatre of Women

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Origin and References of Nangiarkuttu

In ancient days, the whole South India was one region

called Tamizhakam. The known history of Tamizhakam has

chiefly derived from the Sangam literature. From these works,

we understand that dance and music had gained more popularity

in these period. In addition to Sangham works, Cilappatikaram

and Manimekhalai, which are considered as the post sangham

works, threw light on the life and culture of the dancers. The

chief characters of these works are danseuses. From this we

can understand the high place that the art of dance was given in

these days in Tamizhakam1. In Cilappatikaram there is reference

to the Parayoor Kuttan Cakyar2 which indicates the Kuttu

performance of Cakyars.

During the post-sangam era a large proportion of

employment in temples was reserved for women though they

were not employed in government services. Among these, the

post of devadasis3 was the most important to which well born

and highly educated ladies proficient in the arts were appointed.

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They have played a prominent role in promoting various forms

of performing arts and music they are known by such epithets

like Tevaradiyal, Teradiyal and Adigal. Far from any kind of

stigma such names had a halo of devotion and religious aura

around them. In those days, the term ‘Adigal’ was fixed only to

the names of kings, sanyasins and devadasis. Their status was

not inferior to that of a princess of the royal household since

both of them were dedicated to the Lord himself for different

tasks. When the devadasi’s degenerated into harlots society

ceased to honour and support them. During the period of the

British rule, the devadasi system was prohibited by law. In a

short time the devadasi system began to be viewed with disfavour

and women, who had once been in the devadasi families became

ashamed to admit it.

All the evidence found so far about the temple danseuses

of Kerala is from the tenth century A.D or later. During that

period danseuses were known by various names like Nanga,

Talinanga, Nangachi, Nangayar, Nangaiyar, Talivadhu,

Koothathi, Koothachi and Tevidichi.

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A stone inscription of the year 932 A.D. found in the

Chokkur Siva temple near Calicut contains references to the

danseuses of Kerala at that age. The inscription mentions how

one Nangiar belonging to the Chittarayil family donated some

land to the temple. Another valuable source of information

about devadasi’s is a record of the year 934 A.D. from the Tali

Siva temple at Nedumpuram. This document mentions the

payments made to Nangai’s (danseuses) and Nattuvan’s (teachers

of dancing). In an inscription of the twelth century A.D. obtained

from the Vadakkumnatha Siva temple of Trisssur, it has been

recorded that there were devadasi’s in that temple. In many of

the Manipravala and a few Sanskrit works written in the second

half of the thirteenth century and later, the heroines are good

danseuses4.

In the Tiruvalla inscription5 means that for four Tevidichi-

s twelve idangazhi-s of rice should be given during this festival.

This occurs while speaking about the special expenses of the

Avani Onam Festival. From all these testimonies it is clear that

many of the temples of Kerala in the past had danseuses attached

to them and frequent dance performance.

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In Kerala, even today, a small number of actresses known

as Nangiars have chosen the profession of dancing, acting and

singing. It has been their hereditary occupation some centuries.

The female actresses in Kutiyattam are the Nangiars. Their

male counterparts called the Nambiars, also took up the same

profession and accompanied them for performances. So they

could lead a normal family life while engaged in their hereditary

theatre profession. So the Nangiars escaped from the censure

that of the devadasis. They belong to the Ambalavasi caste.

For the Nangyars three kinds of function on the stage

were usually identified.

i . Sitting on stage right in full view of the audience throughout

the performance, playing the cymbals to keep time for the

performance of actors / actresses and singing verses either

for invocation of gods and goddesses or for vocal support

to the performer enacting Nirvahana or solo flashback.

i i . Taking the roles of women characters in the play, wearing

the costume assigned to female roles in different situations.

i i i . Performing the Nangiarkuttu.

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Now we can deal with this extremely fascinating aspects

of Nangyarkuttu in detail.

According to tradition, Kulasekhara Perumal, the

reformer of Kutiyattam introduced Nangiar’s into Kutiyattam.

He not only secured permission for the Nangiar’s to appear in

female roles on the Kutiyattam stage along with the cakyars,

also gave them opportunities to present their own distinctive

dancing style on the stage. This singular form of Kuttu came to

be called Nangiarkuttu. It depits the story of Srikrsna, in the

form of a Nirvahana of Kalpalatika,the servent maid of Subhara

in the second act of Subhadradhananjaya.

There is a belief in connection with the origin of this art

form. The story is that Kulasekhara Perumal was fascinated by

the extraordinary skill of a certain danseuse. He married her

and persuaded the Cakyars to allow her and a member of her

family to act on the stage along with the Cakyars. He also made

arrangements for presenting Nangiarkuttu on certain special

occasions in some selected temples. This performance was

made a part of the ritual of the temple.

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There is a story6 in connection with this is: “Once

sage Visvamitra called Urvasi and other apsaras and told their

willingness to perform the Lakshmisvayamvaram story. They

stood bowing their head without saying anything. He got angry

and cursed them to be born on earth as actresses. They begged

Sage Visvamitra for salvation. He relented and said that ‘if

they perform the Dasamamkuttu at the cremation area of an

Akkithiri and gave salvation to their souls, they will be relieved

of from the effector of the curse.’

There is also a mythological story7 connected with the

performance of Nangiarkuttu. According to the story Ghrtaci

was an apsaras created by Lord Brahma, for the performance of

female roles in the dramas of Bharata. She was giving a

performance as a maid in the drama “Laksmi svayamvara” where

Urvasi was playing the role of Lakshmi. Ghrtaci’s mind was

distracted by the entrance of the spirit of a great brahmin who

had died recently and who had performed a number of yanjnas.

When the Brahmin’s spirit entered the drama hall, Ghrtaci was

distracted and did not respond to a querry by the heroine on the

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stage. The performance thus got marred. Though Bharata was

pleased to welcome the soul of the Agnihotri brahmin, his anger

towards Ghrtaci was intense and he cursed her to be born on

earth as an actress. She woke up to the situations and begged

the sage Bharata for salvation. He relented and said that if she

performs 101 times, the story of childhood of Srikrishna at the

cremation ground of an Agnihotri Brahmin, then she will get

salvation and could join the others in the heavens. Besides,

along with the Agnihotri, his wife also will get salvation. Thus

Ghrataci was born as a Nangiar and went about performing

their “Dasamamkuttu” at the sancayana ritual of Agnihotris

and she went back to heaven in due course. This is known as

‘Cutalakuttu’. Then the descendants of Ghrtaci on earth,

continued to perform this under the name Nangiar and it came

to be known as Nangiarkuttu.

This is to be performed during the period of the death

ceremonies. It is believed that the enactment of the childhood-

story of Srikrsna as in the Bhagavata Xth Skandha during the

death ceremonics leads to the salvation of the dead man. It is to

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be noted that the soul of the dead person is invoked in a stone

kept at the venue of the ceremony till the same is ritually

transferred to the world of the manes at the end of the function.

There was a belief that if any mistake is committed during the

performance, the Nangiar may get cursed, similar to what

happened to Ghrtaci. For want of adequate practice no performer

is sure that the abhinaya would be free from faults. So this

performance is no longer done. The last performance of this

Cutalakuttu was done more than a hundred years ago by a

member of the Vilvattam family of Kottayam. It was thus that

the Nangiars started performing the story of Srikrsna and later

it got attached as a Nirvahanam to the second act of

Subhadradhananjaya. Thus, Cutalakuttu was considered as the

prime source of Nangiarkuttu.Smt Usha Nangiar had pointed

out severl reasons for this8:

1. Among the Kutiyattam plays, various characters have to

do Nirvahana and they are known by the name of that drama

or acts itself i.e. Lalita’s Nirvahana in Parnasalanka,

Subhadra’s Nirvahana in Subhadradhananjaya etc. But, only

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the Kalpalathikas Nirvahana in the second act of

Subhadradhananjaya is known as Nangiarkuttu.

2. Usually in Nirvahana’s the character describes the past

story of themselves or to their master. But in Nangiarkuttu

Kalpalathika describes the past story of the third one that

is the brother of her mistress.

3. In the performance of Kutiyattam usually, an Aragnutalisloga

is recited in the beginning. This will be same for the

entrance of all the characters in that act. But in

Subhadradhananjaya this is different for the entrance of

Arjuna and Kalpalathika. Moreover, The Arangutalisloka

of Nangiarkuttu this is different from others of this kind

and it does not maintain any qualities of an Arangutalisloga.

4. This is heared that the entire story of Srikrsna i.e. upto the

Svargarohana, used to be enacted as Nangiarkuttu. Then

the entrance of the Kalpalathika would not be like this.

5. The Legend about the performance of Nangiarkuttu.

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6. The incompatibility of Nangiarkuttu in the construction of

the Kutiyattam performance of Subhadradhananjaya.

If we consider these reasons, it is find that Nangiarkuttu

was in practice and it was attached to Subhadradhananjayam

kutiyattam for gaining the same status.

Salient Features of Nangiarkuttu

The Solo-performance of women in Kutiyattam is

Nangiarkuttu. As Kutiyattam, this was confined to the four

walls of temple theatres. This was one of those art forms that

had no fresh talent or aspirants because of the changing social

environment which undermined them and there by threatened

their survival. The invention of Srikrisnacaritam Attaprakaram

paved the way to the development of Nangiarkuttu. This acting

manual has given opportunities for the women to enact all the

bhavas and kriyas equal to what a man does on the stage. In

Nangiarkuttu, the dance steps, the gestures, the ragas and talas

and the format, method of training etc were the same as that of

Kutiyattam.

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This is actually the opening scene of the second act of

Subhadradhananjaya. This is in the form of the Nirvahana of

Kalpalatika, the servent maid of Subhadra. She enters in search

of Subhadra’s bodice which she lost in the struggle with the

demon the previous day. The entrance of Kalpalatika is like

this.

The maid was sent by Subhadra to find out that handsome

youth who saved her from the demon was and to enquire about

the bodice that she lost. When the maid who did not know about

the details was standing not knowing what to do, the aged

Chamberlain enters. The Chamberlain comes there as per the

instruction of Srikrsna.

In the previous night when Srikrsna was sitting in the

inner quarters with Satyabhama, he smiled for no apparent

reason. Bhama was particular to know why he smiled. When

her insistence almost led to a quarrel the Lord explained the

reason. Suyodhana is a disciple of Balabhadra. The disciple

requested the preceptor to give Subhadra in marriage to him. It

did not meet with the approval of others, especially Srikrsna’s.

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When Balabhadra was sure of the disapproval, due to his

affection for the disciple, he consented to Suyodhana abducting

Subhadra secretly. Suyodhana sought the help of a demon by

name Alambusa. The demon abducted Subhadra by force and

carried her across the sky. Knowing this, the Lord persuaded

Garuda. Garuda flew over there and obstructed the path of the

demon who got frightened and let Subhadra off and escaped. It

was then that Arjuna saved her. The Lord smiled thinking of

the blunder of Alambusa and Suyodhana. Even when describing

that story the Chamberlain also describes in detail the old cosmic

form of the Lord who rests on the Banyan leaf.

Taking advantage of this situation, it is possible that the

resourceful among the female actors developed Nangiarkuttu

depicting the story of Srikrsna. The nangiar used this for the

Nirvahana and narrated the Krshna’s story in great detail. The

Nirvahana is blown out of all proportion and has about Two

hundred and odd verses. Some gifted poet wrote Srikrsnacaritam

which the nangiar used for her narration. The story herein is

drawn from different sources, mostly from the Xth Skandha of

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Bhagavata. The compilation was done somewhere in the 17th

century.

According to Sri. K. Ayyappa Panikkar9 Srikrsnacaritan

is a poem of about 240, but in the version currently available,

only 217 quatrains are generally found. Several passages are

lifted from other works like Jayadeva’s Gitagovidam and

Kalidasa’s Sakuntalam and slightly modified to suit the style of

presentation. It is not known who composed or compailed the

text in this way, but there is no doubt that every stanza provides

rich potential for elaborate stage performances. The text begins

with the origin of the city of Madhura and narrates the story of

Srikrshna until the meeting of Subhadra with Arjuna. It takes

perhaps fifty days to complete this dramatic narration. Many

illustrative and decorative stanzas from other sources are

interpolated into the basic text, for the purpose of imaginative

interpretation and improvisation. Each episode will may require

two to four hours for a full-scale presentation.

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The publication of Srikrishnacaritam is a land-mark in

the resuscitation of Nangiarkoothu, More so since sometime

back it suffered a setback along with other temple arts. The

enactment of Srikrishnacaritam follows the scheme:

Purappad : The ritualistic entry of the actresses.

Anukrama : Narration in retrospect from the entry

of Kalapalatika the cheti of Subhadra,

to the building of Madhura

Samkshepam : Narration from the creation of the

world to the building of Madhura.

Nirvahanam : From the building of Madhura to the

meeting of Subhadra and Arjuna.

Nangiarkuthu begins usually with a ritual dance called

Purappad. On that day the Nangiar would get up early in the

morning and take a purificatory bath. She comes to the

Kuttambalam and lights a Nilavilaku in the green room. Then

sitting before the lamp with her face turned to the east, she ties

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a red ribbon (chuvappu tuni) round her head which is the

beginning of her make up. Meanwhile the Poojari of the temple

performs Ganapati pooja on the stage. When the stage is thus

purified, the Nambiar begins to beat the Mizhavu. This is called

Mizhavu occhappeduthuka. Then the Nambiar beats Goshti on

the drum. After that the Nangiar (singer) sings some hymns

called Akkitha in praise of gods like Siva, Ganapati and goddess

Saraswati. The Mizhavu is beaten in accompaniment to the

singing. After this the Nambiar performs the ritual called

Arangutali. Then two persons hold a curtain. The danseuse

then enters and standing behind the curtain performs the dance

called Marayilmutalnadayadi or Marayikriya. At the end of

this dance the curtain is removed and the actress performing

the gait called Pancapadavinyasa and then showers the flowers

just in front of the lamp. She then sits on the ground in front of

the lamp and bows her head in prayer. Then she stands up and

assuming the sthayi of the characher called Kalpalatika, enacts

her line in Prakrit beginning with “anatham hi...............”

Now she proceeds to perform the second part of the Purappad

whcih includes choreographic patterns called

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Cheriyachokkam10 or Cheriyokkam, Valiyachokkam or

Valiyokkam giving a description from head to foot of Siva and

Parvati, and pays obeisance to the Astadikpalaka-s (the lords of

the eight zones).

After finishing this, the actress in all her make up goes

into the temple and standing before the Sreekovil (sanctum

sanctorum) of the deity, worships the deity. Then she returns

followed by the Nambiar, holding a Kuthuvilakku and other

devotees. She comes to the stage once more and performs

Rangavandanam.

The next day she begins the part called Nirvahanam,

which consists of the whole story of Srikrsna right from the

time of the origin of the Madhura Kingdom. There is only one

actress who has to portray all the roles in the various verses of

the Nirvahana, so much so, her histrionic talent has to be of a

very high standard. When a Nangiar has been trained to be a

danseuse her first performance called Arangettam would be by

performing this Purappad.

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Attaprakaram of Nangiarkuttu

On the first day of a Nangiarkuttu performance,only the

Purappad is shown and on the second day the enacting of

Nirvahanam begins. After performing the introductory rituals,

the actress begins with the part of the story which she had

hinted at in the Purappad of the previous day. She enacts briefly

all the important episodes of the earlier part of the story up to

the setting up of the Madhura Kingdom. This is called

Anukramam. The story of the Madhura Kingdom from the time

of the origin of the universe is briefly summarized here.

Only after this, does the Nirvahanam proper begins.

Usually the Nirvahanam is shown according to the Attaprakaram

prescribed for the sloka beginning asti vistari11 Generally

Nangiar- kuttu consists of the enacting of about 217 sloka-s.

But the number of the sloka-s varies from manuscript to

manuscript.

In the Nirvahanam, the actress enacts and interprets each

sloka clearly and brings out in detail in pantomime and gestures

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enacting the roles of various characters in accordance with the

Attaprakaram laid down for that sloka. After that a Nangiar

(singer) sings the sloka and the actress once more brings out the

meaning alone of the sloka by using appropriate gestures and

abhinaya. The actress never sings herself the Nirvahana sloka-

s. When the Nangiar (singer) sings the sloka no instruments are

played as accompaniment. The actress herself will give a signal

to the Nambiar to stop drumming through a gesture called

Kottuvilakkuka. As soon as this gesture is given, the Nambiar

will stop drumming and the other instruments also will be

silenced.

The Nirvahana sloka’s and the Prakrt passages of

Nangiarkuttu are recited in different Raga’s depending on the

context and the sentiment. These Raga’s are the same as are

used in Kutiyattam. The style of slow recitation with correct

and proper utterance of the words of the texts very closely

resembles the style of chanting of the Veda’s in Kerala.

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All the important events of the Bhagavata puranan are

included here. The chief musical instrument used in

Nangiarkuttu is the drum called Mizhavu. The other

accompanying instruments for this are the cymbals, the short-

pipe, the idakka and the conch.

When Nangiarkuttu is performed as a ritual, the

performance usually lasts for twelve days. This period is too

short for a full and elaborate performance of the Kuttu. In a

detailed and exhaustive performance, the actress will be able to

finish the abhinaya of only two or three sloka-s a day.

The Theme of Nangiarkuttu

The theme of the Srikrsnacaritam Nangiar Kuttu presented

in 217 sloka-s is briefly summarized below:-

King Ugrasena marries Sauraseni. An asura named

Dramila., disguising himself as Ugrasena, approaches the Queen

Sauraseni and shares her bed. The result is that Sauraseni gives

birth to a son. The child is taken to a forest and left there. But

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he reaches the kingdom of Jarasandha and grows up in the palace

under the name Kamsa. On attaining manhood Kamsa attacks

the Rajadhani of Ugrasena. Kamsa marries Jarasandha’s

daughters. Vasudeva marries Devaki, Kamsa’s sister. The deva-

s in heaven pray to Lord Vishnu to send somebody to the earth

to exterminate the asura-s. The result is the avatara of Srikrsna

as the son of Vasudeva and Devaki. Then follows

Putanamoksham12 and the killing of the rakshasa, Trinavartha.

Balarama and Krsna grow up in Vrndavana. The killing

of Bakasura. The seven asura sons of Kalanemi disgused

themselves as bulls, come to Vrndavana and cause great

destruction there-Krsna slays them all-Pleased with this

Kumbhakan offers his maiden daughter, Nila, to Krsna.

Aghasura, taking the form of a serpent comes to kill Krsna.

Many cowherd-boys are swallowed by this serpent-Krishna

enters the stomach of Aghasura and by making it bloat to bursting

kills him, and rescues the cowherd-boys. This is followed by

Kaliyamardanam, killing the asura, Pralamba; taking away the

clothes of the bathing Gopika-s; raising the mountain

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Govardhana; rasa-krida;slaying Arishtasura;killing the asura,

Kesi; the arrival of Akrura; Rama and Krsma going to Madhura

Rajadhani in the company of Akrura; taking leave of the Gopika-

s of Vrindavan’ their great sorrow; arriving at the Madhura

Rajadhani where Krishna straightens the body of the hunch-

backed Kubja; killing Kuvalayapida; meeting his parents,

Vasudeva and Devaki;killing Kamsa13; fighting with Jarasandha;

living happily at Madhura Rajadhani; then building a Rajadhani

in the ocean; Subhadra growing into a beautiful maiden and

Arjuna’s great love for her; Alambusa, prompted by

Duryodhana, kindnapping Subhadra after disguising himself as

bhuta and Arjuna rescuing Subhadra from him; Subhadra falling

in love with Arjuna. These are the most important episodes in

Nangiarkuttu.

Nangiarkuttu concludes with this last episode. Subhadra

instructs her maid to recover her gatrika while she was being

carried away by the bhuta. She also asks the maid to enquire

whether the handsome man who rescued her from the bhuta was

still there. The maid goes to carry out these commands; but she

fails in recovering the gatrika and in getting information about

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Arjuna, the rescuer of Subhadra. So she returns sadly to her

mistress. With this the kuttu comes to an end.

Makeup, Costumes and Ornaments of Nangiarkuttu

After prerforming pooja to Lord Ganapati, Saraswati and

Brahma in the dressing room, the Nangiar sits before a

Nilavilakku and begins her makeup. First she ties a red ribbon

round her head. This is how the makeup is commenced. Next

she paints her face. This paint is made of Chayilyam (red pigment

of sulphate of mercury) and Manayola (yellow pigment, of

arsenic sulphide). This painting – work is called Pazhukka

tekkuka. When this is over the eyes and eye-brows are darkened

and beautified with an eyepaste. The eyes are reddened by

inserting the dried kernel of Chunda (a small variety of solanum)

flower, under the lower eye-lid. The forehead is beautified by

skillfully drawing the design of Kurunira (the curls of hair

ringlet) on it. A Kuri ( a mark at the centre of the forehead)

made of moistened rice-flour, having the shape and size of a

Kumbala (a pumpkin seed) adorns the forehead.

A short description of the head-gear and the important

ornaments, used in Nangiarkuttu is given below:

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Muti

The head-gear (Muti) is carved in wood and embellished

with woolen fabric, thin pieces of gilded tin, thin strips of

silver and silver pendants. Closely along the lower edge of this

Muti on the forehead the Nangiar wears a silver ornament called

Vellialukku. It was also called Vellipookkal. In olden days the

Mudi was made out of the thick seed-pot of the arecanut tree.

The top edge of the Muti was made sharp. This is then wrapped

completely in red silk. A garland made of Chethi (Ixora coccinea)

flower would round this head-gear. On the top of the Muti, a

serpend-hood (Nagaphana) made of silver is firmly fixed. This

head-gear was further beautified with silver pendants shaped

like the hoods of snakes.

Peelipattam

A narrow band made of the quill of peacock feathers

used to be worn on the head just above the red ribbon. Now-a-

days this ornament is made of corals.

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Ratnapattam

This is an ornament worn on the forehead just below the

crown. It is made of the rib of a coconut frond and flowers. A

rib of coconut frond is split a little and some Chethi flowers are

fixed within the split, some turned upwards and some downwards.

The two ends of the rib and tied together.

Dhoosaram

This is an ornament made to hide the middle portion of

the rib of the Ratnapattam. A piece of white cloth about three

inches wide is used for the purpose, a rib of the coconut frond

cut to a proper length is placed in the piece which then is folded

with the rib inside it. Then it is smeared well with rice-flour

paste. This ornament is called Dhoosaram.

Padari

The false hair that the Nangiar wears on her head is

called Pedari.

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Past history of Nangiarkuttu

We have no clear evidences about the origin of

Nangiarkuttu. Stories about the dexirity of the Nangiars

performances is still popular in the world of Kutiyattam. It

shows in the matter of abhinaya the Nangiar’s were not at all

inferior to the cakyars.

There was a time when in the famous Ammannur Cakyar

family the training in abhinaya had come to a standstill. One

member of that family named Paramesvaran showed an inborn

taste for the art. It was a Nangiar from chengannur Nambiar

Madham that trained him to become a renowned performer.

Ichirikutty Nangiar of Meledath Nambiar Madham earned the

praise of spectators with her Netrabhinaya of the scene where

Arjuna serves the head of the mechanical bird in

Pancalisvayamvaram. There were extremely accomplished

actresses in the past who had created spell binding situations

with their performances of Lalita’s bhavatrayam in

Surpanakhankam Kutiyattam. Furthermore it is a known fact

that Kathakali actors from the Travancore Place Kathakali troupe

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were send for training under the Villuvattan Nambiar Madhom

Nangiars. These are several legends in Kerala lauding the great

skill of Nangiars in the art of acting.

In olden days, in the matter of make up and ornaments,

the figure of a bangle was drawn at the top end of each of the

upper arms with rice-flour paste. In those days the Nangiar

wore only a gatrika. But now-a-days, she wears a blouse and so

this ornamentation on the upper arm is not done. Instead of that

the Nangiar wears an actual bangle and Kadakam (bracelet)

made of wood and covered with thin pieces of gilded tin and

rings on the fingers.

In olden days the basic costume worn round the waist

was a white cloth. When properly tied, it looks like a pyjama

stopping at the knees. Above it the actress would wear a silk or

cotton cloth of red colour and a white cloth having three red

horizontal lines on it girding the waist. This piece of cloth is

called Pinchira. A fine textured and brocaded white cloth about

two metres long, pleated lengthwise is doubled and suspended

at the waist in front with its two loose free ends hanging in the

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centre of the front and the two lower outside corners of it are

tucked at the back. Now-a-days, instead of this, a white sari

with red lines is plaited and tucked and worn. A beautiful

ornament called Odyanam is also tied round the waist.

The upper garment to cover the breast used to be a gatrika.

This gatrika had six strings with which it would be fastened at

the back firmly. There is another piece of upper garment

(Uthariyam) made by plaiting a thin brocaded piece of white

cloth. The two ends of this garment are folded and plaited in

such a way that they look like two lotus flowers. Usually it

would be tied like a sacred thread.

Nangiarkuttu is still performed as an annual function in

some temples of Kerala.Thiruvilvamala, Pazhayannur, Trichur,

Irinjalakkuda, and Kundoor are some of the places in Trichur

district where it is still performed. Mulanjoor and Angadippuram

in Palaghat district, Cottanikkara and Tripunithura in Ernakulam

district and Kumaranalloor in Kottayam district are some of the

other temples where this is performed. Due to a variety of

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reasons the standard of performance dwindled down and it

became a mere ritual. The woefully inadequate remuneration

given by the temple-authorities is also an important reason for

this downfall. Recently thanks to the efforts of many it has got

a new lease of life.

The Rejuvenation of Nangiarkuttu

Along with Kutiyattam, Nangiarkuttu also has been

brought out of the temple premises until a few years ago only

the female members of the Nambiar community could perform

Nargiarkuttu . Now there are many actresses form other

communities. Recently more stories are added to the repertory

of Nangiarkuttu. Margi Sati presented stories from Ramayana

and Cilappatikaram in Nangiarkuttu. Usha Nangiar presented

the story of Draupadi from Mahabharata. Kapila took the

Saundaryalahari of Sankaracarya for presentation.

In 1964 Kerala Kalamandalam started a Kutiyattam

department. Then Guru Painkulam Rama Cakyar admitted

suitable girls from other castes for studying Kutiyattam and

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trained them the female roles. Though the Nangiarkuttu

purappad was included in the lesson plan in the Arangettam of

women, he could not begin the training of enacting episodes

during his life time. The prime reason for this was Sreekrishna

charitam Attaprakaram was not available to him. The

publication of this text in 1984 by P.K. Narayanan Nambiar

contributed immensely to the revival of Nangiarkuttu. When a

complete Attaprakaram became available Sri. Ammannur

Madhava Cakyar Started to work on Sreekrishnacaritam

Nangiarkuttu. After a close study he rewrote the Attaprakaram

in which he described acting potential in exhaustive detail.

Completion and comprehensive renewal of each dramatic

concept was effected with greater reach and scope of

Pakarnnattam. This Attaprakaram was reborn with Usha

Nangiar’s training in the Ammannur Gurukulam. The enactment

of Nangiarkuttu, by bringing together the eyes, hands and mind,

was evolved into an art form that internalised both the simplicity

and assertiveness of Kerala women.

Recently more stories are added to the repertory of

Nangiarkuttu. These attempts of the artists to present new themes

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has paved the way to explore the possibility of including different

situations and storyline in future. Margi Sati’s Sreeramacaritam

and Kannakicaritam based on Ramayana and Cilappatikaram,

Usha Nangiar’s Draupadi based on Venisamharam, Her’s own

Mandordari, Subhadra and Karthayani, Kalamandalam Girija’s

Kunti and Karnajananam, Kalamandalam Sailajs’s Parvati-

parinayam Kapila’s Saundaryalahari etc. are promises for the

future.

From what was once a ritual, Nangiarkuttu transformed

itself into a powerful and attractive solo theatre. As a women

orinted dance form capable of depicting bhavabhinaya in all its

richness, Nangiarkuttu has great potential to develop as the

most powerful theatre exclusively of women. Endeavours on

these lines will give the ancient Indian tradition its due in the

world theatre movement.

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References:-

1. For more details please refer Nangiarkuttu by Nirmala panikar.

Here she had given a vide description about ‘The danseuses of

Ancient Kerala’.

2. In Cilappatikaram the following remark occurs in

Natukarkatayil: “the great dancing expert Koothachakkayan

who is from parayoor, the land of the Brahmins who are

deeply learned and accomplished in all trhe four veda’s that

are indivisib;le,entertained the king with his performance and

when he had bowed respectfully to the king and retired,

theruling King Senguttuvan proceeded to the assembly for

discussing the affairs of the state.”

3. Nirmalapanikar made a detailed study in ‘Nangiarkuttu’ on

the topic Devadasis, pp 9-14.

4. Ibid pp12-13 . In Unninilisandesa there is a reference about

the performance of Tapati. Smt Usha Nangiar opinions that

this not only shows the history of the Kutiyattam but also the

perfection of the artist who enacted the role of Tapati.

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5. In the Thiruvalla inscription, Sasana No.1 we read the following

injunction:- tevidichikal nalvarkai Pantirunazhikku

.....................

6. Abhinetri, Usha nangiar,pp90. This story is told by her by

Thankam Nangiarramma.

7. From the collection of Ravunninambiar.

8. AbinetriUsha nangiar pp87.

9. From an article on Nangiarkuttu from India International

Quartely ‘Kerala Progress and Paradox’ summer –

monsoon,1995, by K. Ayyapapanikar.

10. The trerm Chokkam means pure dance.

11. But in some places the Nirvahanam is shown according to the

sloka beginning, rajadhani.

12. Putanamoksam is given as Appendix I.

13. Kamsavadham is given as Appendix II.