The Arts of Kerala Kshetram

Introduction

Linking the past and the present: A scholar’s journey Traditional arts are the cultural assets of a people. They comprise broadly speaking, two traditions, the folk and the classical, the former being the natural, spontaneous expressions of the tribal and rural communities and the latter, the stylised arts of the sophisticated.

Every region in India is rich in indigenous artistic traditions with distinct identities of its own. Dr Kapila Vatsyayan, whose knowledge of the traditions of different regions, at the level of both theory and practice, is direct, intimate and extensive, focuses her attention on the artistic traditions of Kerala in this book.

The term ‘kshetram’, which denotes the cultural identity and the totality of the traditions of a region, is definitive, while being all encompassing and indicative of the vast scope and framework of the study. This work is the product of her critical observation and participatory experience of the richness and robustness of the traditional arts of Kerala during her long cultural association with the region.

Kapila Vatsyayan’s has been a life of pilgrimage and exploration into the soul of Indian culture. As one, whose encyclopaedic knowledge of the arts and the traditions of the country is direct and intimate and transcends linguistic and regional boundaries, her writings truly present a kaleidoscopic vision of Bharata Kshetram.

The Square and the Circle of the Indian Arts, Traditions of Indian Folk Dance, Indian Classical Dance, Traditional Indian Theatre: Multiple Streams, Paramparik Bharatiya Rangmanch: Anant Dharayen, The Indian Arts, Their Ideational Background and Principles of Form, her numerous studies on Natya Shastra and Gita Govinda, and her more recent “Plural Cultures and Monolithic Structures” are what come immediately to my mind, as would constitute the vivid expositions of the plural Kshetras comprising the grand Bharata Kshetram.

In her literally peripatetic exploration of the centres far and wide in Kerala, where the arts, folk and classical, still pulsate, she rediscovers their ancient charms and new meanings. She seems to echo the words of Thomas Carlyle, “What an enormous magnifier is tradition! How a thing grows in the human memory and in the human imagination, when love, worship, and all that lies in the human heart, is there to encourage it”.

She recognises how the folk and the classical traditions -the “little traditions” and the “great traditions”-interacted, coexisted and formed part of a single, whole monolithic structure. These two traditions have moved on two planes, both clearly differentiated but “always complementary and not antagonistic, one of abstraction and the other of concretisation”.

Nowhere is this aspect more clearly evident than in the arts of Kerala, she says and adds, “Kerala is distinctive and incomparable for the complexities and intricacies of cultural dynamics”. The exploration is to probe into and unravel their complexities and intricacies.

More than 120 traditional art forms belonging to the “little” and “great” categories are identified, besides many unrecognised, though vibrant ones. Scholars and researchers from Herman Gundert, Edgar Thurston, William Logan. L.A. Krishna Iyer, Appan Thampuran, Ulloor, Pandit K.P. Karuppan and others to Chummar Choondal, G. Sankara Pillai and A.K. Nambiar and others have done significant studies on several of them, especially the performing folk and classical arts.

In this exploration, the author dwells on varied topics like the popular myths and the archetypal images of Bhagavati, Shiva and Bhima and their sociological connotation, various forms of oral, ritual and visual arts ranging from paintings, murals and sculptures to the performing arts belonging to the Desi (folk) and Margi (classical) traditions, the categories of art forms that are termed “little traditions” and “great traditions” and the performing forms like Kathakali and Krishnanattam, which are the bridges between the two traditions.

In a perceptive sociological interpretation of the popularity of the myths and the archetypal images of Bhagavati, Shiva as Kirata, and Bhima and Hidumbi presented in folk and classical forms, the author says that “no myth lives in society until it acquires meaning in the here and now” and asks “would it be too much to read into it the meaning that forest, disguise and retribution constitute a prime motif or indicator of the culture?”

Similar are the thoughtful observations about another archetypal Bhima and Hidumbi. Connecting this with the Shiva as Kirata story, she finds a meaningful message: “It would appear that by selecting myths and legends which legitimise, gives status to forest dwellers and where interaction takes place between one level and another level of society, a message is being conveyed. These myths and archetypal images acquire importance because one face of the social reality of Kerala is (or was) its rigid hierarchical structure; the other is the continual dialogue and detour routes of legitimisation or dissent of non-normative conduct. In the performing arts, these hierarchies are broken and roles reversed”.

Similar sociological explanation of the Bhagavati cult in Kerala leads to the scrutiny of the social structure where matriarchal system became the norm. An interesting question to study is whether the social system identified and installed Bhagavati as archetype to justify the practice or the matriarchal system came into being as an inspiration from the archetype. This may lead to the realm of history. Mythology to sociology to history may become the route to unexplored areas in social history. After all, “a well-beaten path does not always make the right road”. The author has given a number of leading hints for scholars and experts to pursue.

Myths and legends come alive in visual form and in theatrical contexts in the mural paintings and sculptures in Kerala temples and palaces. The author makes an in-depth study of the aesthetics, craft, character delineation and symbolism of murals on the walls of many of the 60 identified major sites – temples and palaces her characteristic sensibility and pan-India experience.

The section on the mural paintings in this study is unique as it is both extensive and intensive, examining several panels of Puranic themes or characters found in different places of Kerala. The colour symbolism, costume, postures, the style and dramatic elements in depiction of the characters etc are analysed interrelating the influence of art forms on one another.

Discussing the compositional patterns of these paintings, the author takes a broad sweep of the panels from Padmanabhapuram in the south to Wadakkanchery and Triprayar in the north. Paintings of the same episodes, as depicted in different temples, are considered together. For instance, the Rama paintings of Triprayar, Mattancherry and Vadakkumnathan at Trichur; Narasimha paintings of Palliyarkavu temple in Palakkad and Vadakkumnathan; Shiva paintings of Kumblanad, Mattancherry and Ettumanur; Krishna paintings of Thiruvanchikulam and the Tali temple.

The comparative deliberations try to comprehend the similarity or otherwise of the artistic and theatrical elements of the panels and their association with different folk and classical forms.

The study leads to a useful classification of the Kerala mural paintings on a selective basis, which is useful for future studies in conjunction with the performing arts.

Kapila Vatsyayan is one of the pioneers of the study of Gita Govinda, a Sanskrit text in verse, written in the twelfth century by Jayadeva, especially the tracing of history of its travels to different parts of India. She records in this study two living traditions in Kerala related to Gita Govinda-the singing of Manjuthara at the starting of every Kathakali performance, whatever be the story presented whether Shaivite or Vaishnavite, and the singing of Ashtapadi at the Sopana in Kerala temples. She indicates the direction of research needed in this area to fill the gaps.

When she deals with kutiyattam of Kerala, regarded as the only living tradition of the ancient Sanskrit theatre in India, the author brings together all her practical experience and theoretical knowledge on the dance traditions of India and makes a significant observation: “Kutiyattam has unmistaken links with the elements, which have very little to do with Sanskrit drama”.

“For an examination of the different aspects of content, form and technique of this highly developed form, it is necessary to be acquainted with the state of Sanskrit theatre and its prevalence in the period immediately preceding the evolution of Kutiyattam, of the regional school of poetry, drama, music and dances which affected its growth”. This and related observations point invariably to the need and nature of further study required in this tradition.

The Arts of Kerala Kshetram covers a wide spectrum of arts of Kerala ranging from the tribal to the classical. The study looks around, looks backward and looks forward, the ideal function of an explorative pilgrimage the author had undertaken. It is as if she is dispensing condensed wisdom, leaving a lot for the “manana” of the reader, to ponder over and giving a clear indication of where to go further. This fulfilled pilgrimage of Dr Kapila Vatsyayan promises much to those who would like to have their own pilgrimage. It is almost unbelievable that this vast work constitutes the body of a single memorial lecture she delivered. I know she does it. I was a witness to her brilliant extempore response to the Thalia Award presented by the International Association of Theatre Critics the duration of which, a long one, one never felt.

Reading this work reminded me of what Dr Samuel Johnson said, “One of the amusements of idleness is reading without the fatigue of close attention and the world, therefore, swarms with writers whose work is not to be studied, but to be read”. Here is a work to be studied, not simply to be read, read with a rewarding fatigue of close attention.

New Delhi

31st July 2015

Prof Omchery N.N. Pillai Malayalam Playwright Recipient of Kerala Sahitya Akademy Award and Kerala Sangeet Natak

Akademy Award – Kalaa Ratna