Monday, January 31, 2011
Wednesday, January 05, 2011
Kathakali in Singapore: Duryodhanavadham
There is a Kathakali going to be held in Singapore. For tickets, contact Me (97152134) or Bhasker's Arts Academy.
Artists are:
Cast:
Duryodhanan: Kalamandalam Sudevan
Dussasanan: Kalamandalam Biju
Dharmaputra: Ganesh Iyer (Myself)
Panchali: Pramod Nrityalaya
Kutti Bheeman: Kalagangam Santhosh
Sakuni: Kalamandalam Prasad
Krishnan: Kalarangam Santhosh
Rowdra Bheeman: Sarath Chandran
Music: Sri Pathiyoor Sankaran Kutty, R.L.V. Sajith
Chenda: Margi Venu
Maddalam: Kalamandalam Harikrishnan
Troupe: Bhasker's Arts Academy, Kathakali Troupe, Singapore.
For the story, refer to my old post: http://kathakali-art.blogspot.com/2007/05/duryodhana-vadham-story.html
The details are available in the following poster.
 |
Saturday, September 04, 2010
Kathakali Tadakavadham in Singapore, Clementi
| ||||||||||||||||
 | |
| Rama(Mr Santhosh), |
 |
| From left Viswamitra (Shri Sadanandan Pillai), Dasaratha (Ganesh Iyer), Rama(Kalar |
Co-presented by National Arts Council and Clementi CC.
Tickets at $2. For purchase of tickets and more information, please call Clementi CC at 6265 2411 / 6268 9718.
Friday, July 02, 2010
Kathakali in Singapore: Nalacharitham, Keechakavadham
Kathakali by senior artists from Kerala in Singapore! Yes. There is a Katahakli organized by Mudra Cultural Society in Singapore on July 10th and 11th. The stories are Nalacharitham 2nd day and Keechakavadham. Artists include Prof Kala Balasubramanian, Kott. Devadas, Kott. Madhu, Kala. Vijayakumar etc. For more details and purchasing tickets online, refer, http://mudrasociety.org/. Hurry!!!! Grab your tickets for this exciting performance now!!!
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Seethapaharanam: Kathakali in Singapore
Details are as follows:
Story: Seethapaharanam (Abduction of Seetha: A part from the original story Balivadham, Ramayana)
Venue: The Ixora Room, Perenakan Museum, http://www.peranakanmuseum.sg/visitus/gettingthere.asp
Dates: March 6 and 7
Time: First show at 1 PM and second show at 3 PMDuration of the show: 40 minutes
Fees: FREE admission (Limited seats)Rama: Kalamandalam Biju
Seetha: Mr Ganesh Iyer (Myself)
Lakshmana: Mr Anish
Ravana: Mr SarathMusic and Orchastra: Mr Sajith, Kalamandalam Prasad, Mr Ramesh Varrier
Organised by Bhasker's Arts Academy, Singapore.
Story is as follows:
Scene1 (Rama, Seetha, Lakshmana)Rama, his wife Seetha and his brother Lakshmana are living in the forest "Panchavadi". One day, they saw a golden deer. Rama shows that golden deer to Seetha. The deer is amazing. It has silver legs, golden body. It jumps and plays while eating grass. She expressed her desire to get that deer. (Actually that deer is the demon Mareecha came to help the demon King Ravana to abduct Seetha). Rama tells Lakshmana to take care of Seetha and he goes to catch the deer. Rama tries to catch the deer in several ways, but he can not catch it. It runs away many times. At last, Rama understood that the deer is not a normal deer and he kills the deer using an arrow. Suddenly the deer cries in the sound of Rama asking help from Seetha and Lakshmana.
Scene2 (Seetha, Lakhmana)
Seetha heard the crying sound from the jungle. She tells Lakshmana to find out Rama and help him. Lakshmana tells Seetha that there is nothing wrong happened to Rama and those sounds are tricks by demons to cheat them. Seetha misunderstood Lakshmana and blames him a lot for not going to help Rama. Lakshmana decided to go and he makes a circle around Seetha (called as Lakshmana Rekha) and tells her not to go out of that circle. The circle is an aid to help her from any unfortunate things. Seetha agreed.
Scene 3 (Seetha, Saint Ravana, Ravana, Jadayu)
At that time, the demon king Ravan disguised himself as a saint comes near Seetha. Seetha comes out of circle and respect the saint. Saint asks whereabouts of Seetha. She tells that a demon came there in the form of a golden deer and her husband went to catch that demon. He will kill that demon deer and come back soon. Then the saint says that he has no time to wait there. He is none other than the great king Ravana. He takes his actual form. He decided to catch Seetha. But then he remember about a curse to him (that if he touch a lady without her permission, his head will break in to pieces). So He takes the part of earth where Seetha is standing and travels back to his kingdom in his aero plane "Pushpaka vimana". Seetha cries to get help from someone. Hearing her cry, Jadayu, a vulture who is friend of Rama's father Dasaratha comes there and asks Ravana to free her. Ravana did not listen to him. They fight each other and at last Ravana cuts the bird's right hand wing. The bird falls down. Seetha bless him to be alive until he meet Rama and tell what happened.
First female character photo: Ganesh Iyer as Seetha
Acknowledgement: Remaining photos from http://kaliyarangu.blogspot.com/search/label/BaliVadham
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Keechakavadham
This is a beautiful story written by Irayimman Thambi. This story takes place when Pandavas were living incognito. Yudhishtira (as Kankan) was political advisor to Virada King, Bhima (As valalan) was cook, Arjuna (Brihandala) was a dance teacher, Nakula was horse keeper, Sahadeva was cattle manager and Panchali (Malini) was a maid servant.
The story begins with the "Tiranottam" of a wrestler. The wrestler came from a different country and he claims that nobody can defeat him in wrestling. He came to Virata's country and challenged everyone. Nobody could defeat him. Knowing this, Valalan came and defeats the wrestler in a wrestling competition (called as Malla Yudha).
When Malini was plucking flowers to make garlands, Keechaka (brother of Virata queen Sudeshna) saw her. He 
suddenly fall in love with her because she is so beautiful. Keechaka asked her to go with him to his palace to stay with him for a night. She refused it and left. Keechaka keep on thinking of her and he is not able to do anything. So he decided to approach his sister.
In next seen, Keechaka comes near Sudeshna and asks her for a favour. He told her that he wants the presence of Malini. Sudeshna first oppose him, but due to her love towards her brother, she agree with him.
Now Sudhesna calls Malini near her and praises her a lot. Then she order Malini to take food and wine to Keechaka's room. She strongly opposes and cries. But Sudeshna was firm on her decision. Thinking about her situation, Malini goes to Keechaka's room as if a female deer is forced to go to a powerful male lion's den. Keechaka asks her to stay with him on his bed. She refuses. She says that she has 5 male nature spirits (Gandharva) as her husbands always with her to protect her. Not considering to her voice, Keechaka tries to catch her. She ran away.
Malini comes to Valalan (Bhima) and tells her sorrow. Valalan made a plan to kill him without knowing others. He tells her to inform Keechaka to come to the dance room in the night. Later Valalan covers his body and sit in dance room. Keechaka thinks that it is Malini and touch the body from behind. Then he feels that the body is very hard like a rock. He came to know that the person sitting there is not Malini. Then suddenly Valalan takes hold of Keechaka's throat and suffocates him to death.
Knowing that Keechakan is killed, Upakeechaka and Bhiru comes. Valalan kills them also.
Keechakan - Kathi
Malini - Minukku female
Sudheshna - Minukku female
Wrestler - Minukku minister type
Valalan - Minukku minister type
Upa-keechaka - Red Beard
Bhiru - Special comedy make-up.
The story begins with the "Tiranottam" of a wrestler. The wrestler came from a different country and he claims that nobody can defeat him in wrestling. He came to Virata's country and challenged everyone. Nobody could defeat him. Knowing this, Valalan came and defeats the wrestler in a wrestling competition (called as Malla Yudha).
When Malini was plucking flowers to make garlands, Keechaka (brother of Virata queen Sudeshna) saw her. He 
suddenly fall in love with her because she is so beautiful. Keechaka asked her to go with him to his palace to stay with him for a night. She refused it and left. Keechaka keep on thinking of her and he is not able to do anything. So he decided to approach his sister.In next seen, Keechaka comes near Sudeshna and asks her for a favour. He told her that he wants the presence of Malini. Sudeshna first oppose him, but due to her love towards her brother, she agree with him.
Now Sudhesna calls Malini near her and praises her a lot. Then she order Malini to take food and wine to Keechaka's room. She strongly opposes and cries. But Sudeshna was firm on her decision. Thinking about her situation, Malini goes to Keechaka's room as if a female deer is forced to go to a powerful male lion's den. Keechaka asks her to stay with him on his bed. She refuses. She says that she has 5 male nature spirits (Gandharva) as her husbands always with her to protect her. Not considering to her voice, Keechaka tries to catch her. She ran away.
Malini comes to Valalan (Bhima) and tells her sorrow. Valalan made a plan to kill him without knowing others. He tells her to inform Keechaka to come to the dance room in the night. Later Valalan covers his body and sit in dance room. Keechaka thinks that it is Malini and touch the body from behind. Then he feels that the body is very hard like a rock. He came to know that the person sitting there is not Malini. Then suddenly Valalan takes hold of Keechaka's throat and suffocates him to death.Knowing that Keechakan is killed, Upakeechaka and Bhiru comes. Valalan kills them also.
Keechakan - Kathi
Malini - Minukku female
Sudheshna - Minukku female
Wrestler - Minukku minister type
Valalan - Minukku minister type
Upa-keechaka - Red Beard
Bhiru - Special comedy make-up.
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Sreekrishna Jayanthi: Kathakali in Singapore
As part of Sreekrishna Jayanthi, There is a Kathakali in Singapore, Sreekrishna temple, Bugis
Story: Kamsavadham
Date: 24-08-2008, Sunday 8 PM
Venue: Sreekrishna Temple, Waterloo street, Bugis, Singapore.
Location map:
http://www.streetdirectory.com/asia_travel/travel/travel_id_22180/travel_site_1/?x=372476.00514393806&y=143827.87416649348
Time: 8.00 PM - 9.00 PM
Presented by: Bhaskars Arts Academy, Singapore
Admission: FREE
The scenes that are going to perform:
Scene 1: (Sree Krishna, Balarama, Akrura)
Akrura, a devotee of Krishna s coming to Krishna's house. Krishna welcomes him and asks the purpose of visit. Akruran tells that he came with an invitation from Kamsa. Kamsa invites Krishna and Balarama for a "Bow festival". Sree Krishna is ready to go for the festival. All three of them started their journey towards Kamsa's palace, "Madhura". Once they reach Mathura, Akruran leaves Krishna and Balarama as they wish to see the places by walk. Krishna and Balarama goes by watching different scenes on the city.
Scene 2: (Krishnan, Balaraman, Rajakan(washerman))
Krishna and Balarama saw a washerman carrying few very nice clothes and ask him to give the clothes. He refuses to give clothes and teases both of them. They forcefully get the clothes from the washerman.
Scene 3:(Krishna, Balarama, Elephant, Elephant care taker)
The elephant which is arranged by Kamsa to kill Krishna comes with its care taker. Krishna and Balarama kills the elephant and take out its tusk.
Scene 4: (Krishna, Balarama, Kamsa, two Wrestlers(Malla: Chanoora and Mushtika))
Battle with Wrestlers. Wrestlers are killed by Krishna and Balarama. Later Kamsa is killed by Krishned using the tusk.
People:
Krishna: Sri Kalamandalam Biju
Balarama: Sri Pramod Kumar
Akrura: Sri Ganesh Iyer
Rajaka(Washer man): Sri Kalaramgam Santhosh
Elephant care taker: Sri Sarath
Elephant: Sri Kalarangam Santhosh
Kamsa: Sri Kalamandalam Prasad
Wrstlers: Sri Kalarangam Santhosh, Sri Ganesh Iyer
Music: Sri Sajith, Sri Jayakumar
Percussion: Sri Santhosh Menon, Sri Arun
Presented by Bhaskars Arts Academy, Singapore
Story: Kamsavadham
Date: 24-08-2008, Sunday 8 PM
Venue: Sreekrishna Temple, Waterloo street, Bugis, Singapore.
Location map:
http://www.streetdirectory.com/asia_travel/travel/travel_id_22180/travel_site_1/?x=372476.00514393806&y=143827.87416649348
Time: 8.00 PM - 9.00 PM
Presented by: Bhaskars Arts Academy, Singapore
Admission: FREE
The scenes that are going to perform:
Scene 1: (Sree Krishna, Balarama, Akrura)
Akrura, a devotee of Krishna s coming to Krishna's house. Krishna welcomes him and asks the purpose of visit. Akruran tells that he came with an invitation from Kamsa. Kamsa invites Krishna and Balarama for a "Bow festival". Sree Krishna is ready to go for the festival. All three of them started their journey towards Kamsa's palace, "Madhura". Once they reach Mathura, Akruran leaves Krishna and Balarama as they wish to see the places by walk. Krishna and Balarama goes by watching different scenes on the city.
Scene 2: (Krishnan, Balaraman, Rajakan(washerman))
Krishna and Balarama saw a washerman carrying few very nice clothes and ask him to give the clothes. He refuses to give clothes and teases both of them. They forcefully get the clothes from the washerman.
Scene 3:(Krishna, Balarama, Elephant, Elephant care taker)
The elephant which is arranged by Kamsa to kill Krishna comes with its care taker. Krishna and Balarama kills the elephant and take out its tusk.
Scene 4: (Krishna, Balarama, Kamsa, two Wrestlers(Malla: Chanoora and Mushtika))
Battle with Wrestlers. Wrestlers are killed by Krishna and Balarama. Later Kamsa is killed by Krishned using the tusk.
People:
Krishna: Sri Kalamandalam Biju
Balarama: Sri Pramod Kumar
Akrura: Sri Ganesh Iyer
Rajaka(Washer man): Sri Kalaramgam Santhosh
Elephant care taker: Sri Sarath
Elephant: Sri Kalarangam Santhosh
Kamsa: Sri Kalamandalam Prasad
Wrstlers: Sri Kalarangam Santhosh, Sri Ganesh Iyer
Music: Sri Sajith, Sri Jayakumar
Percussion: Sri Santhosh Menon, Sri Arun
Presented by Bhaskars Arts Academy, Singapore
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Nalacharitham 2nd Day
Nala and Damayanthi got married. Nala and Damayanthi enjoys by talking various things and they go to Nala's garden. Damayanthi is astonished to see that beautiful garden. Then they spend some time in the garden. In the next scene, Kali and Dwapara see each othen on their way to earth and during their talk, both realised that they are in fact going to the same place- For marrying Damayanthi (Both of them are unaware that Damayanthi is already married). They decided to go together and they see Indra, Agni, Yama and Vayu coming from earth back to heaven. Kali and Dwapara salutes them and asks whe
re are you coming from? Indra will tell that they are coming back from long distanceand he asks where Kali is going? Kali tells that he is going to marry Damayanthi. Indra laughs at him and tells that Damayanthi's marriage with Nala is over and that they are coming back after attending that marriage ceremony. Kali got anger and he blames them for just attending the marriage function instead of marrying her. Then Kali decided to separate Nala from Damayanthi and also to get them out of their country. Kali and Dwaparan thinks about the palns to cheat Nala and th
ey decided to meet Pushkara (A distant relative of Nala). Kali can live in somebody if they do some bad things. When Kali observe Nala, he realised that Nala is perfect in all aspect. He waits in a tr
ee for 12 years and at last one day he saw that Nala fogot to put water on his leg's backside when he pray to God. So Kali enter Nala's body. In the third scene, they came to Pushkara's palace and meets him. Pushkara starts telling his worries to them and then Kali starts telling lot o
f things to Pushkara and he successf
ully influenced and changed the mind of Pushkara. Kali told him to call Nala for playing game of dice and tell that Dwapara (In the form of an ox) will be given if he looses the game. Pushkara agreed to this and he challeges Nala. Nala came there and he looses in the game. The punishment is to live in jungle forever. Nala and Damayanthi went to jungle to keep the promise. Pushkara orders the people in the country, not to give even a piece of cloth to them. In the jungle, Kali in the form of a bird will come and take Nala's cloth away. When Damayanthi sleeps in Nala's lap, due to the effect of Kali, Nala goes away from there and when Damayanthi wakes up, she see that Nala is miss
ing. She cries in search of Nala in that big jungle. At that time a snake catches Damayanthi's leg and started swallowing her. She cries loudly. A hunter in that jungle hear this sound and he saw Damayanthi. He kills that snake. Damayanthi expresses her gratitude to him. But he asks her to live with him. Atlast as there is no other way to escape from him, Damayanthi curses him and he burnt into ashes due to he curse. (Normally till here is shown in stages). Then Damayanthi wanders in the jungle and she meets some traders 
and with their help,, she reaches Chedi country and she becomes a servant of the queen over there. Sudevan, a brahmin sent by Damayanthi's father to find Damayanhi reaches there and realised that this servant is Damayanthi. thus Damayanthi reaches her Father's palace. This is Nalacharitham -part II. The characters are:
Nala - Paccha
Damayanthi - Minukku (Lady)
Kali - Special type similar to Red Beard
Dwapara - Special makeup (But nowadays Kurumkatthi is common)
Indra - Paccha
Pushkara - Paccha
Servant (To ready the equipment on game of dice) - Minukku
Ox - Masked makeup
Hunter - Kari (Black beard)
Sudevan -Minukku (Brahmin)
Chedi queen - Minukku (Lady)
Monday, May 14, 2007
Gopi Ashan's Sapthathi
A set of grant events are planned for this Festival.
I request all of you to make donations liberally according to your financial ability.
Postal address :
Gopi Ashan Sapthati Committee,
Iledam Shankaran Namboothiri,
Jayashree Lodge (old)
Guruvayoor Pin: 680101
Phone: 0487 2553360
If you can do online money transfer, please contact me through e-mail/phone (ganesh.vigneswara@gmail.com, ganesh.nelakanta@nxp.com, 9845858579), I will give you my bank account number. For the online-transfer, I will send you the receipt.
Any donations for this evet will be a great help to the organizing committee and you treat this as your GURUDAKSHINA to our Beloved Ashan.
The event details are:
Venue: Kala Padmanabhan Nair Nagar (Municipal Town Hall, Guruvayoor)
26th May:
9 AM: Photo/Book Exhibition Inaguration
10 AM: Ashtapadi -Guruvayoor Janardhanan Nedungadi
11 AM: Keli -Pookkattiri Divakara Pothuval, Cherpulasserry Sivan
12 noon: Ottantullal - Kalamandalam Geethanandhan
2 PM: Seminar - Gopi Ashan's contribution to Kerala Natyakala
(Bharat Murali, Nedumudi Venu, Dr Grama prakash etc)
Evening 6PM onwards Kathakali:
Purappadu: Panchapandavas and Panchali
1. Nalacharitham 2nd Day:
Nalan1: Gopi Ashan
Damayanthi 1: Margi Vijayakumar
Kali: Nelliyodu Vasudevan Namboothiri
Dwaparan: Kottarakkara Ganga
Indran: Kalamandalam Mukundan
Pushkaran: Kalamandalam Krishnakumar
Nalan 2: Kott. Chandrashekharan
Damayanthi 2: Mathoor Govindan kutty
Kattalan: Madavoor Vasudvan Nair
2: Duryodhanavadham
Duryodhana 1: Injakkattu Ramachandran Pillai
Dussasanan 2: Margi Muraleedharan Pillai
Panchali: Kalamandalam Rajashekharan
Dharma puthrar: Kalamandalam Keshavan Namboothiri
Bhiman: Neeraj
Sakuni: Kala Madumohanan
Arjunan: Vivaswatha Manu
Nakulan: Chinosh
Sahadevan: Aravind
Krishnan: Kalanilayam Gopalakrishnan
Dritharashtrar: Azhikkode Harikumar
Duryodhanan2: Kala Sree kumar
Dussasanan 2: Kottakal Keshavan Embranthiri
Mumukshu: RLV Pradeep Kumar
Roudra Bhima: Sadanam Balakrishnan
Music:
Madambi Subrahmanyan Namboothiri
Kalanilayam Unnikrishnan
Pathiyoor Shankaran kutty
Kalamandlam Babu Namboothiri
Kalamandalam Vinod
Kalanilayam Rajeev
Vengeri Narayanan Namboothiri
Kalamandalam Sudhish
Chenda
Kuroor Vasudevan Namboothiri
Kala Balaraman
Kala Krishnadas
Kala Nandakumar
Kott. Vijayaraghavan
Kala Aneesh
Sadanam Sreehari
Maddalam
Kala Narayanan Nair
Kala Shankara Warrier
Kala Harinarayanan
Kala Gopikkuttan
Kala Sasi
Kalanilayam Prakashan
Mattannoor Sreejith
Chutty
Kalanilayam Parameswaran
Kalanilayam Janarddhanan
Kott. Ramachandran
Kala Sateeshan
Kala Sukumaran
Kalanilayam Devadas
V Prabhakaran Pilla
27th May
9 AM: Khoshayathra and Sweekaranam to Ashan Gurudakshina Acharyavandhanam Anumodana Sammelanam
(Anjam Krishnan Namboothiri, Chovallor Krishnan kutty, O N V Kuruppu, M A Baby, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, M. D. Vasudevan Nair, Bhrat Murali etc..)
2 PM: Suhrutsammelanam (artist Namboothiri etc.)
4 PM: Tayambaka: Kallor Ramankutty Marar and Mattannoor Shankaran kutty Marar
6 PM: Kathakali
Purappadu: 4 Mudi
1: Lavanasuravadham:
Sita: Kott. Sivaraman
Kushan: Balasubrahmanyan
Lavan: Kott Keshavan
Hanuman: Ramankutti Nair Ashan
2. Uttaraswayamvaram
Duryodhanan: Sri Kala Gopi Ashan
Bhanumathi: Shanmukhan
Doothan: Kala Harinarayanan
Sabha: KAla Manojkumar, Pradeepan, Balanarayanan
Trigarthan: Kott Devadas
Viradan: Kalanilayam Vinod
Valalan: KAla Pradeepkumar
Uttaran: Kalanilayam Balakrishnan
Patni: Kala Sivadas, Kala Vijayakumar
Pashupalakas: C M Unnikrishnan, Sunil kumar
Brihandhala: Sadanam Krishnankutty
Sairandhri: Vellinezhi Haridas
Uttara: Sadanam Vijayan
2 Dakshayagam
Dakshan: Kott Nandakumaran Nair
Indran: Kala Narayanan Kutty
Veerabhadran: Kavunkal Divakara Panikkar
Bhadrakali: Kala Manoj
Sivan: Kala Gopinathan
Sati: Chavara Parukutty
Bhootaganagal: RLV Prmod, Vivaswatha manu
Pooja Brahmanar: Chinosh, Aravind
Music
Kala Gangadharan
Kala Mohanakrishnan
Kott Narayanan
Palanadu Divakaran
Kott Madhu
Nedumpulli Rammohan
Kala Rajesh Menon
Chenda
Kala Prabhakara Pothuval
Kalanilayam Kunjunni
Kala Unnikrishnan
Kala Vijayakrishnan
Kott Prasad
Kala Balasundaran
Sadanam Ramakrishnan
Kala Krishnapraveen
Maddalam
Kala Narayanan Nambeeshan
Kala Ramankutty
Kotta Ravi
Kala Rajanarayanan
Sadanam Devadas
Sadanam Bharatarajan
Kala Venu
Kala Jayaprasad
Chutty
Kala Sivaraman
Kayyandam Neelakandan Namboothiri
Kala Balan
Koot Satheeshan
Kala Sivadasan
Kalanilayam Saji
Aniyara:
Appunni tharakan
Kunjiraman
Murali, Kunjan, Balan, Appu, Kuttan
Koppu: Kerala Kalamandalam, Cheruturuthi
I request all of you to make donations liberally according to your financial ability.
Postal address :
Gopi Ashan Sapthati Committee,
Iledam Shankaran Namboothiri,
Jayashree Lodge (old)
Guruvayoor Pin: 680101
Phone: 0487 2553360
If you can do online money transfer, please contact me through e-mail/phone (ganesh.vigneswara@gmail.com, ganesh.nelakanta@nxp.com, 9845858579), I will give you my bank account number. For the online-transfer, I will send you the receipt.
Any donations for this evet will be a great help to the organizing committee and you treat this as your GURUDAKSHINA to our Beloved Ashan.
The event details are:
Venue: Kala Padmanabhan Nair Nagar (Municipal Town Hall, Guruvayoor)
26th May:
9 AM: Photo/Book Exhibition Inaguration
10 AM: Ashtapadi -Guruvayoor Janardhanan Nedungadi
11 AM: Keli -Pookkattiri Divakara Pothuval, Cherpulasserry Sivan
12 noon: Ottantullal - Kalamandalam Geethanandhan
2 PM: Seminar - Gopi Ashan's contribution to Kerala Natyakala
(Bharat Murali, Nedumudi Venu, Dr Grama prakash etc)
Evening 6PM onwards Kathakali:
Purappadu: Panchapandavas and Panchali
1. Nalacharitham 2nd Day:
Nalan1: Gopi Ashan
Damayanthi 1: Margi Vijayakumar
Kali: Nelliyodu Vasudevan Namboothiri
Dwaparan: Kottarakkara Ganga
Indran: Kalamandalam Mukundan
Pushkaran: Kalamandalam Krishnakumar
Nalan 2: Kott. Chandrashekharan
Damayanthi 2: Mathoor Govindan kutty
Kattalan: Madavoor Vasudvan Nair
2: Duryodhanavadham
Duryodhana 1: Injakkattu Ramachandran Pillai
Dussasanan 2: Margi Muraleedharan Pillai
Panchali: Kalamandalam Rajashekharan
Dharma puthrar: Kalamandalam Keshavan Namboothiri
Bhiman: Neeraj
Sakuni: Kala Madumohanan
Arjunan: Vivaswatha Manu
Nakulan: Chinosh
Sahadevan: Aravind
Krishnan: Kalanilayam Gopalakrishnan
Dritharashtrar: Azhikkode Harikumar
Duryodhanan2: Kala Sree kumar
Dussasanan 2: Kottakal Keshavan Embranthiri
Mumukshu: RLV Pradeep Kumar
Roudra Bhima: Sadanam Balakrishnan
Music:
Madambi Subrahmanyan Namboothiri
Kalanilayam Unnikrishnan
Pathiyoor Shankaran kutty
Kalamandlam Babu Namboothiri
Kalamandalam Vinod
Kalanilayam Rajeev
Vengeri Narayanan Namboothiri
Kalamandalam Sudhish
Chenda
Kuroor Vasudevan Namboothiri
Kala Balaraman
Kala Krishnadas
Kala Nandakumar
Kott. Vijayaraghavan
Kala Aneesh
Sadanam Sreehari
Maddalam
Kala Narayanan Nair
Kala Shankara Warrier
Kala Harinarayanan
Kala Gopikkuttan
Kala Sasi
Kalanilayam Prakashan
Mattannoor Sreejith
Chutty
Kalanilayam Parameswaran
Kalanilayam Janarddhanan
Kott. Ramachandran
Kala Sateeshan
Kala Sukumaran
Kalanilayam Devadas
V Prabhakaran Pilla
27th May
9 AM: Khoshayathra and Sweekaranam to Ashan Gurudakshina Acharyavandhanam Anumodana Sammelanam
(Anjam Krishnan Namboothiri, Chovallor Krishnan kutty, O N V Kuruppu, M A Baby, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, M. D. Vasudevan Nair, Bhrat Murali etc..)
2 PM: Suhrutsammelanam (artist Namboothiri etc.)
4 PM: Tayambaka: Kallor Ramankutty Marar and Mattannoor Shankaran kutty Marar
6 PM: Kathakali
Purappadu: 4 Mudi
1: Lavanasuravadham:
Sita: Kott. Sivaraman
Kushan: Balasubrahmanyan
Lavan: Kott Keshavan
Hanuman: Ramankutti Nair Ashan
2. Uttaraswayamvaram
Duryodhanan: Sri Kala Gopi Ashan
Bhanumathi: Shanmukhan
Doothan: Kala Harinarayanan
Sabha: KAla Manojkumar, Pradeepan, Balanarayanan
Trigarthan: Kott Devadas
Viradan: Kalanilayam Vinod
Valalan: KAla Pradeepkumar
Uttaran: Kalanilayam Balakrishnan
Patni: Kala Sivadas, Kala Vijayakumar
Pashupalakas: C M Unnikrishnan, Sunil kumar
Brihandhala: Sadanam Krishnankutty
Sairandhri: Vellinezhi Haridas
Uttara: Sadanam Vijayan
2 Dakshayagam
Dakshan: Kott Nandakumaran Nair
Indran: Kala Narayanan Kutty
Veerabhadran: Kavunkal Divakara Panikkar
Bhadrakali: Kala Manoj
Sivan: Kala Gopinathan
Sati: Chavara Parukutty
Bhootaganagal: RLV Prmod, Vivaswatha manu
Pooja Brahmanar: Chinosh, Aravind
Music
Kala Gangadharan
Kala Mohanakrishnan
Kott Narayanan
Palanadu Divakaran
Kott Madhu
Nedumpulli Rammohan
Kala Rajesh Menon
Chenda
Kala Prabhakara Pothuval
Kalanilayam Kunjunni
Kala Unnikrishnan
Kala Vijayakrishnan
Kott Prasad
Kala Balasundaran
Sadanam Ramakrishnan
Kala Krishnapraveen
Maddalam
Kala Narayanan Nambeeshan
Kala Ramankutty
Kotta Ravi
Kala Rajanarayanan
Sadanam Devadas
Sadanam Bharatarajan
Kala Venu
Kala Jayaprasad
Chutty
Kala Sivaraman
Kayyandam Neelakandan Namboothiri
Kala Balan
Koot Satheeshan
Kala Sivadasan
Kalanilayam Saji
Aniyara:
Appunni tharakan
Kunjiraman
Murali, Kunjan, Balan, Appu, Kuttan
Koppu: Kerala Kalamandalam, Cheruturuthi
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Duryodhana Vadham - Story
Duryodhana Vadham is written by Vayaskara Arya Narayanan Moossatu. The play consists of the main parts of Mahabharata.
[Bhanumathi tells about the newly built palace of Pandavas to her husband Duryodhana. Duryodhana decided to see that beautiful palace.]
Duryodhana and other Kauravas went to see the beauty of Indraprastha, the new palace of Pandavas. The palace was built by the Asura architect Mayan who had built the palace with his magical skills. The Kauravas were completely confused by the construction and mistook the floor to be a pond and a pond to be a floor and fell and got drenched. Draupadi and Bhīma laughed at them. Yudhishtira advises Bhīma not to laugh at anybody because it will cause unwanted events to happen. This incident filled Duryodhana with anger and embarrassment and he decided to take revenge and left the palace.
Duryodhana approaches Sakuni, his uncle. Duryodhana’s padam starts with- mamatha wari rashe---- in which he expresses the shameful incident which happened to him and how he feels hurt and humiliated by the laughter of Bhima and Draupadi. Sakuni tries to console him. Padam- Paritapam hriti karutidenta--- in which he tells Duryodhana how he can defeat Pandavas by cheating in the game of Dice. He also tells Duryodhan
a to seek permission from his father and invite Yudhishtira for the dice game. Duryodhana happily agrees to the plan.
Pandavas came to see the newly built “Keli Gruham” (Play house) of Duryodhana. Duryodhana tells Dharmaputhra, “Hey great son of Yama, you are an expert in the game of dice and hence I desire to watch a game between you and my uncle Sakuni. If my uncle is defeated, I promise you that I will give you the penalty.”
Dharmaputhra replies, “The game of dice brings sorrow, it destroys the happiness, it creates
mayhem, but it is decided by Lord Brahma that kings should play the game of dice. So I will play without any worries after offering prayers to Lord Krishna.” (Duryodhana expresses his irritation upon hearing the word Lord Krishna). Dharmaputhra continues “But my brother Duryodhana and my uncle Sakuni - please don’t cheat me in the game.” Sakuni replies,” What is the use of cheating in the game of dice. Don’t tell such nonsense. As per God’s wish, victory and defeat will come. Dharmaputhra, please do come and sit with us for the game”.
Then the game starts. Dharmaputhra starts seeing his defeat. He gambles away not only his army, palace, wealth and kingdom, but also one-by-one all his brothers, himself and their wife-in-common - Draupadi. Duryodhana overwhelmed with joy orders Dussasana to bring Draupadi and commands her to do the servile job. When she refuses to come there, Dussasana pulls her hair and drags her to the court. She asks for mercy and nobody including her husbands (because they are now servants of Duryodhana) hears her plea. She prays to Lord Krishna to help her. Dussasana tries to disrobe her in public. Lord Krishna helps Draupadi as a savior. Draupadi 
curses them, “Sakuni, who cheated my husbands in the game of dice and made them servants, will be killed by Sahadev during the battle. Dussasana who tried to humiliate me in front of the public will be killed by Bhīma and Bhīma would rip him open and drink his blood and my own hair would remain disheveled until the fulfillment of the curse. Bhima will kill Duryodhana by crushing his thigh with the gada.” [Drutharashtra tells Draupadi to stop the curses and tells her to ask anything she wants. She asks her husbands along with their weapons back. She got her husbands back. This part is not shown generally.] As a result of the second dice game Duryodhana orders, “Hey Pandavas! Live in thick forest for 12 years. And 13th year, lived incognito. If you are recognized during that period, the same will be repeated again.”
[After 13 years of exile Pandavas return to ask their rightful share back which is denied by Kauravas. As a last attempt for peace Lord Krishna is requested to go to Duryodhana as a messenger. Dharmaputhra tells Krishna to ask for half country. If not, at least 5 villages. If not, at least 5 houses, or even one house is enough. That is the greatness of Dharmaputhra.]
Draupadi comes near Lord Krishna, “Krishna, When Dussasana tried to humiliate me in front of the public, you only saved me from the humiliation. Krishna, when you are going to ask for our portion, you please remember my disheveled hair.”
Krishna replies, “My friend, Draupadi, don’t worry. You are the Queen among all women. All your wishes will soon come true. Please wait for that auspicious time. The bad act of Dussasana was a decision by God.” Thus Lord Krishna consoles and sends her back Lord Krishna then makes all the arrangements for his visit to Hasthinapura (Palace of Duryodhana).
[Duryodhana tells Dritarashtra that Pandavas should get the justice and also to tell his son to do the needful.]
Duryodhana gets the news of Lord Krishna’s arrival at his palace. Duryodhana ordered all people in the palace to give no respect to Krishna. Even though they agreed with him, when Krishna arrives in the court, all of them praised him and gave full respect. [Krishna will come through the audience with Alavettam, Venchamaram, Panchavadyam, and Muttukkuda]
Krishna addresses Duryodhana. Krishna requested him to give half of his country, then five villages, or five houses or at least one house to Pandavas. Duryodhana refuses to give even to give space taken by a needle point. Duryodhana in a fit of rage orderes Dussasana to get a cord to tie Krishna. Krishna takes the Vishwaroopa(his cosmic form) and all Kauravas in the court fell down except all Mumukshu (noble hearted people). These Mumuksu told Duryodhana to 
give whatever Krishna requested to save his own life. Lord Krishna leaves the palace; Duryodhana and Dussasana wake up and decide to go ahead with the battle.
[Arjuna wants Hanuman to be there and Hanuman appears and tells that he will be there in the flag of Arjuna to kill the enemies. Then Arjuna and Krishna is going to the battle field,,
and seeing all brothers and relatives in the battle field, Arjuna fainted. Then Krishna adviced the Great “Gita”. Then Arjuna became strong and started the battle.]
In the battle field of Kurukshetra, Bhīma filled with anger faces his arch rival battles Dussasana. With the blessings of Lord Narasimha Bhīma kills Dussasana and ripples him open and drinks his blood, thus fulfills the vow of Draupadi.
[Then Duryodhana came for the battle, after a long battle, Krishna gives the sign of killing using
the “Gadha” on the thighs of Duryodhana. Bhima did the same and Duryodhana fell down. Then Bhima told each and every bad thing happened in Pandava’s life because of Duryodhana and at last Duryodhana passed away. Then “Vethalams” came there and did some dances to express there joy.]
Later Lord Krishna calms him down and blesses him.
NOTE: The scenes written in bracket is not shown generally.
Character - Relationship - Make-up type
[Bhanumathi tells about the newly built palace of Pandavas to her husband Duryodhana. Duryodhana decided to see that beautiful palace.]
Duryodhana and other Kauravas went to see the beauty of Indraprastha, the new palace of Pandavas. The palace was built by the Asura architect Mayan who had built the palace with his magical skills. The Kauravas were completely confused by the construction and mistook the floor to be a pond and a pond to be a floor and fell and got drenched. Draupadi and Bhīma laughed at them. Yudhishtira advises Bhīma not to laugh at anybody because it will cause unwanted events to happen. This incident filled Duryodhana with anger and embarrassment and he decided to take revenge and left the palace.
Duryodhana approaches Sakuni, his uncle. Duryodhana’s padam starts with- mamatha wari rashe---- in which he expresses the shameful incident which happened to him and how he feels hurt and humiliated by the laughter of Bhima and Draupadi. Sakuni tries to console him. Padam- Paritapam hriti karutidenta--- in which he tells Duryodhana how he can defeat Pandavas by cheating in the game of Dice. He also tells Duryodhan
a to seek permission from his father and invite Yudhishtira for the dice game. Duryodhana happily agrees to the plan.Pandavas came to see the newly built “Keli Gruham” (Play house) of Duryodhana. Duryodhana tells Dharmaputhra, “Hey great son of Yama, you are an expert in the game of dice and hence I desire to watch a game between you and my uncle Sakuni. If my uncle is defeated, I promise you that I will give you the penalty.”
Dharmaputhra replies, “The game of dice brings sorrow, it destroys the happiness, it creates
mayhem, but it is decided by Lord Brahma that kings should play the game of dice. So I will play without any worries after offering prayers to Lord Krishna.” (Duryodhana expresses his irritation upon hearing the word Lord Krishna). Dharmaputhra continues “But my brother Duryodhana and my uncle Sakuni - please don’t cheat me in the game.” Sakuni replies,” What is the use of cheating in the game of dice. Don’t tell such nonsense. As per God’s wish, victory and defeat will come. Dharmaputhra, please do come and sit with us for the game”.
Then the game starts. Dharmaputhra starts seeing his defeat. He gambles away not only his army, palace, wealth and kingdom, but also one-by-one all his brothers, himself and their wife-in-common - Draupadi. Duryodhana overwhelmed with joy orders Dussasana to bring Draupadi and commands her to do the servile job. When she refuses to come there, Dussasana pulls her hair and drags her to the court. She asks for mercy and nobody including her husbands (because they are now servants of Duryodhana) hears her plea. She prays to Lord Krishna to help her. Dussasana tries to disrobe her in public. Lord Krishna helps Draupadi as a savior. Draupadi 
curses them, “Sakuni, who cheated my husbands in the game of dice and made them servants, will be killed by Sahadev during the battle. Dussasana who tried to humiliate me in front of the public will be killed by Bhīma and Bhīma would rip him open and drink his blood and my own hair would remain disheveled until the fulfillment of the curse. Bhima will kill Duryodhana by crushing his thigh with the gada.” [Drutharashtra tells Draupadi to stop the curses and tells her to ask anything she wants. She asks her husbands along with their weapons back. She got her husbands back. This part is not shown generally.] As a result of the second dice game Duryodhana orders, “Hey Pandavas! Live in thick forest for 12 years. And 13th year, lived incognito. If you are recognized during that period, the same will be repeated again.”[After 13 years of exile Pandavas return to ask their rightful share back which is denied by Kauravas. As a last attempt for peace Lord Krishna is requested to go to Duryodhana as a messenger. Dharmaputhra tells Krishna to ask for half country. If not, at least 5 villages. If not, at least 5 houses, or even one house is enough. That is the greatness of Dharmaputhra.]
Draupadi comes near Lord Krishna, “Krishna, When Dussasana tried to humiliate me in front of the public, you only saved me from the humiliation. Krishna, when you are going to ask for our portion, you please remember my disheveled hair.”Krishna replies, “My friend, Draupadi, don’t worry. You are the Queen among all women. All your wishes will soon come true. Please wait for that auspicious time. The bad act of Dussasana was a decision by God.” Thus Lord Krishna consoles and sends her back Lord Krishna then makes all the arrangements for his visit to Hasthinapura (Palace of Duryodhana).
[Duryodhana tells Dritarashtra that Pandavas should get the justice and also to tell his son to do the needful.]
Duryodhana gets the news of Lord Krishna’s arrival at his palace. Duryodhana ordered all people in the palace to give no respect to Krishna. Even though they agreed with him, when Krishna arrives in the court, all of them praised him and gave full respect. [Krishna will come through the audience with Alavettam, Venchamaram, Panchavadyam, and Muttukkuda]
Krishna addresses Duryodhana. Krishna requested him to give half of his country, then five villages, or five houses or at least one house to Pandavas. Duryodhana refuses to give even to give space taken by a needle point. Duryodhana in a fit of rage orderes Dussasana to get a cord to tie Krishna. Krishna takes the Vishwaroopa(his cosmic form) and all Kauravas in the court fell down except all Mumukshu (noble hearted people). These Mumuksu told Duryodhana to 
give whatever Krishna requested to save his own life. Lord Krishna leaves the palace; Duryodhana and Dussasana wake up and decide to go ahead with the battle.[Arjuna wants Hanuman to be there and Hanuman appears and tells that he will be there in the flag of Arjuna to kill the enemies. Then Arjuna and Krishna is going to the battle field,,
and seeing all brothers and relatives in the battle field, Arjuna fainted. Then Krishna adviced the Great “Gita”. Then Arjuna became strong and started the battle.]In the battle field of Kurukshetra, Bhīma filled with anger faces his arch rival battles Dussasana. With the blessings of Lord Narasimha Bhīma kills Dussasana and ripples him open and drinks his blood, thus fulfills the vow of Draupadi.
[Then Duryodhana came for the battle, after a long battle, Krishna gives the sign of killing using
the “Gadha” on the thighs of Duryodhana. Bhima did the same and Duryodhana fell down. Then Bhima told each and every bad thing happened in Pandava’s life because of Duryodhana and at last Duryodhana passed away. Then “Vethalams” came there and did some dances to express there joy.]Later Lord Krishna calms him down and blesses him.
NOTE: The scenes written in bracket is not shown generally.
Character - Relationship - Make-up type
Duryodhana - Eldest of the Kauravas -Katti ( heroic villain)
Bhanumathi- Wife of Duryodhana- Minukku (Lady)
Dussasana -Second of the Kauravas -Chuvanna Tadi ( Red Beard )
Sakuni -Wicked uncle of Kauravas -Special
Dharmaputhra -Eldest of Pandavas -Paccha ( Noble Hero)
Draupadi -Wife of Pandavas -Minukku (Lady)
Bhima, Arjuna,Nakula, Sahadeva - Other Pandavas -Paccha
Bhanumathi- Wife of Duryodhana- Minukku (Lady)
Dussasana -Second of the Kauravas -Chuvanna Tadi ( Red Beard )
Sakuni -Wicked uncle of Kauravas -Special
Dharmaputhra -Eldest of Pandavas -Paccha ( Noble Hero)
Draupadi -Wife of Pandavas -Minukku (Lady)
Bhima, Arjuna,Nakula, Sahadeva - Other Pandavas -Paccha
Dritharashtra - Father of Kauravas- Paccha with white beard
Hanuman -Devotee of Lord Rama- Vella thadi (White beard)
Lord Krishna -Incarnation of Vishnu- Paccha with mudi (Headgear)
Mumukshu -A saint- Minukku (Saint)
Roudra Bhima -Bhīma in his terrifying form -Special
Vethalams -People who eat human meat -Special Kari
Hanuman -Devotee of Lord Rama- Vella thadi (White beard)
Lord Krishna -Incarnation of Vishnu- Paccha with mudi (Headgear)
Mumukshu -A saint- Minukku (Saint)
Roudra Bhima -Bhīma in his terrifying form -Special
Vethalams -People who eat human meat -Special Kari
Saturday, February 03, 2007
KIRMEERA VADHAM
This is a story taken from the "Vanaparvam" of Mahabharatha. It is written by the great Attakkatha composer, Kottayam Tampuran.
Immediately after Pandavas were sent to Forest by Duryodhana (so the sory starts in the middle of Duryodhanavadham), Dharmaputhra and Panchali were thinking of how to feed the Brahmins who followed them to the jungle. So they decided to see "Showmya Muni" (not sure the exact name). The sage sugested them to pray Lord Surya (Lord Sun). Upon their pray, Lord Surya is coming in front of them and presented them "Akshaya parthra" with the condition that this special vessel will be full of food until Panchali is taking food. One day, Sree Krishna came there and seeing the difficulties faced by Pandavas, He became angry and thought "Sree Chakram" to kill all Kouravas. "Sudarshana Chakram " will appear in front of Him. But then Dharmaputhra will stop Sree Krishna from doing this action.
Duryodhana came to know about the "Akshayapathra labham" of Pandavas. So he decied to send Sage Durvasav and his 10000 diciples to the place of Pandavas just when Panchali finishes her lunch. So dharmaputhra will request them to take bath and come back for the lunch. Then Panchali will pray to Lord Krishna and Lord will immediately appear in front of her tlling that He is very hungry and he will get a single rice from the "Akshayapathra" and Lord will eat that rice. Immediately sage and his disciples will feel that their stcmach is full while they are taking bath. So they will bless Pandavas from near the river itself and will go back from there.
One day, the sister of Kirmeera (Simhika) will come near Panchali in the form of a beautiful woman when Pandavas are not present there and will start talking each other. Slowly she will take Panchali to the inner forest. After some time, Panchali will tell that she wants to go back. Then the Lalitha will take her real form and will tell that she will eat Panchali then. Hearing the crying of Panchali Sahadevan will come with a sword and will break Simhika's ear,nose, breast etc. She will run away from there towards and Kirmeera will become angry uopn knowing this incident. He will fight with Sahadeva and will caught him. Then our Bheema will come there and he will kill Kirmeera in a fight.
Ususally in most stages the scene "Lalitha and Panchali" is used to play nowadays. This is a story where "Ninam" is also present. ("Ninam" will be coming near Kirmeeran). Also the crown for Lord Surya will contain some additions to indicate the rays coming out of Him. Sudarshana Chakram has special make-up on the face to reflect the charector. Also there will be "Panthams" on both hands of Sudarshana Chakram.
SANTHANA GOPALAM സന്താനഗോപാലം
Written by Shri. Mandavapilli Ittiraricha Menon (1745 AD to 1809 AD), this story is explained in Slokas 22 to 66 in 89th Chapter of the 10th Canto of Sreemad Bhagavatam (The story of Lord Vishnu). Another great story in Kathakali, Rugmangada Charitham is also written by the same author.
This is a touching story of a Brahmin whose all the 9 babies died immediately upon birth. This is also a story of Lord Krishna removing the evil thought from Arjuna that nobody is there to beat him in this world.
Scene 1: Krishna and Arjuna
In due time, the Brahmana wife will become pregnant. She will tell Brahmana that the delivery is going to happen soon. So please inform Arjuna immediately. Then Brahmana will call a "Vayattatti" (Mid-wife) to take care of his wife. He then went to Dwaraka to see Arjuna.
Scene 5: Brahmin, Arjuna, Brahmin's wife, Mid-wife
Scene 10: Arjuna, Krishna, Brahmana, His wife, 10 kids
This is a touching story of a Brahmin whose all the 9 babies died immediately upon birth. This is also a story of Lord Krishna removing the evil thought from Arjuna that nobody is there to beat him in this world.
Scene 1: Krishna and Arjuna
One day, Arjuna will come to Dwaraka. Sree Krishna asked whether all Pandavas are fine? Arjuna told that with the blessings of Lord Krishna all are perfectly fine there. Sree Krishna then asks him to stay there for some days and Arjuna agreed with that.
Scene 2: Balarama, Krishna, Arjuna, Brahmin
Scene 2: Balarama, Krishna, Arjuna, Brahmin
On a fine day, one Brahmin will come to the Yadava Sabha ca
rrying the dead body of a new born baby and he tells that his eight kids died upon birth and this is the dead body of the ninth one. He wanted to show this to Balarama and Krishna and ask them to help him. Lord Krishna and Balarama won't mind him at all. Hence non of the Yadavas will mind him. After some time, Lord Krishna and Balarama will go out of the Sabha without telling even a single word. Arjuna is not able to tolerate the condition of Brahmana.Arjuna will tell that he will give the next baby who will born for this brahmin. Then Brahmin will start accusing Arjuna out of desperation and when Lord is also helpless, he lost all his hope. Atlast Arjuna will tell that if he is not able to save the next baby from death, he will jump into fire along with his great bow and arrow. When Arjuna promises in the name of Lord Krishna's lotus-legs, Brahmana became happy and he left the place.
Scene 3: Brahmin, His wife
rrying the dead body of a new born baby and he tells that his eight kids died upon birth and this is the dead body of the ninth one. He wanted to show this to Balarama and Krishna and ask them to help him. Lord Krishna and Balarama won't mind him at all. Hence non of the Yadavas will mind him. After some time, Lord Krishna and Balarama will go out of the Sabha without telling even a single word. Arjuna is not able to tolerate the condition of Brahmana.Arjuna will tell that he will give the next baby who will born for this brahmin. Then Brahmin will start accusing Arjuna out of desperation and when Lord is also helpless, he lost all his hope. Atlast Arjuna will tell that if he is not able to save the next baby from death, he will jump into fire along with his great bow and arrow. When Arjuna promises in the name of Lord Krishna's lotus-legs, Brahmana became happy and he left the place.
Scene 3: Brahmin, His wife
Brahmana reaches back his home and tells the entire incident to his wife. Then she replies that as Lord Krishhna is not there to help them, she lost her hope. Then Brahmana replied that Arjuna promised that he will jump into fire if he cannot keep his promise. Lord won't leave that promised Pandava. So be happy that Lord Krishna will save our next kid.
Scene 4: (After a few months) Brahmin, His wife, Mid-wife
Scene 4: (After a few months) Brahmin, His wife, Mid-wife
In due time, the Brahmana wife will become pregnant. She will tell Brahmana that the delivery is going to happen soon. So please inform Arjuna immediately. Then Brahmana will call a "Vayattatti" (Mid-wife) to take care of his wife. He then went to Dwaraka to see Arjuna. Scene 5: Brahmin, Arjuna, Brahmin's wife, Mid-wife
Brahmana tells Arjuna that his wife is going to deliver a baby soon. So come with him and save the baby from death. Arjuna will go along with the Brahmain and he will make a house out of his arrows in such a way that there is not even a single hole for even a single sun ray to come inside. Then Brahmana will call his wife along with the "Vayattatti" to go inside the arrow-Dom for the delivery. After sometime the "Vayattatti" will tell that even the kid's dead body is also not present there. Arjuna is shocked to hear this. Brahmin blaims Arjuna for giving unnecessary hope and tells him to go and enjoy his life.
Scene 6: Arjuna, Yama, Chitragupta (Rare scene)
Arjuna went in search of the kid everywhere and reaches Yama's palace. He asks Yama about the kids with a lot of anger. Yama replies saying that he doesn't know about those kids in Dwaraka and that he has not kept any such kids with him. Chitragupta agrees to the same.
Scene 7: Arjuna, Indra (Rare Scene)
Arjuna, then reaches heaven and asks his father Indra about the kids. Indra replies saying that he is unaware of those kids from Dwaraka. He asks Arjuna to seek help from Krishna for the same.
Scene 8: Arjuna, Krishna, Sudarshanam
As Arjuna is unable to find the kids, he decided to keep his promise. He made a fire and when he is about to jump into it, Lord Krishna will appear in front of him and will stop him from jumping into the fire. Lord Krihna told, "It is world famous that Krishna is there always for Arjuna. when I am there to help you from any problems, why are you worrying? All the kids are safe in Vaikunta and we will take them and give them to their parents ". Then they went to Vaikunta. On the way when darkness prevailed, Lord will think about "Sudarshanam" and Sudarshanam will show the way to Vaikuntam.
Scene 9: (Vaikunta Darshanam) Arjuna, Krishna, Vishnu, Lakshmi, Bhoomi, 10 kids (Rare scene)
In Vaikuntam all ten kids were playing happily. When Krishna and Arjuna called the kids, they told that they won't go anywhere from their Parents Lord Vishnu and Lord Lakshmi. Then Lord Vishnu Himself will request them to go with Lord Krishna and Arjuna. Then the kids will agree and they all left from Vaikuta after getting blessings from Lord Vishnu and Lord Lakshmi.
Scene 6: Arjuna, Yama, Chitragupta (Rare scene)
Arjuna went in search of the kid everywhere and reaches Yama's palace. He asks Yama about the kids with a lot of anger. Yama replies saying that he doesn't know about those kids in Dwaraka and that he has not kept any such kids with him. Chitragupta agrees to the same.
Scene 7: Arjuna, Indra (Rare Scene)
Arjuna, then reaches heaven and asks his father Indra about the kids. Indra replies saying that he is unaware of those kids from Dwaraka. He asks Arjuna to seek help from Krishna for the same.
Scene 8: Arjuna, Krishna, Sudarshanam
As Arjuna is unable to find the kids, he decided to keep his promise. He made a fire and when he is about to jump into it, Lord Krishna will appear in front of him and will stop him from jumping into the fire. Lord Krihna told, "It is world famous that Krishna is there always for Arjuna. when I am there to help you from any problems, why are you worrying? All the kids are safe in Vaikunta and we will take them and give them to their parents ". Then they went to Vaikunta. On the way when darkness prevailed, Lord will think about "Sudarshanam" and Sudarshanam will show the way to Vaikuntam.
Scene 9: (Vaikunta Darshanam) Arjuna, Krishna, Vishnu, Lakshmi, Bhoomi, 10 kids (Rare scene)
Scene 10: Arjuna, Krishna, Brahmana, His wife, 10 kids
Lord Krishna, Arjuna and the ten kids came to Brahmins house and Arjuna gave all kids to Brahmin and Brahmin overwhelmed with joy and praises Lord Krishna and Arjuna.
Characters in the story
Krishna - Pacha, Krishnamudi
Arjuna - Pacha
Balarama - Pazhuppu
Brahmin - Minukku
Brahmin wife - Minukku (Lady)
Mid-wife - Minukku (old lady)
Yama -Kathi (black strip in face)
Chitragupta - Minukku
Indra - Pacha
Vishnu - Pacha (like Krishna with Keshabharam crown)
Lakshmi - Minukku (Lady with crown)
Bhoomi - Minukku (Lady)
10 kids - Nine of them minukku, 10th kid will be a doll
Characters in the story
Krishna - Pacha, Krishnamudi
Arjuna - Pacha
Balarama - Pazhuppu
Brahmin - Minukku
Brahmin wife - Minukku (Lady)
Mid-wife - Minukku (old lady)
Yama -Kathi (black strip in face)
Chitragupta - Minukku
Indra - Pacha
Vishnu - Pacha (like Krishna with Keshabharam crown)
Lakshmi - Minukku (Lady with crown)
Bhoomi - Minukku (Lady)
10 kids - Nine of them minukku, 10th kid will be a doll
Thursday, November 16, 2006
Nalacharitham First Day
The story Nalacharitham is written by "Unnai Varier". It is the romantic story of unlimited love between Nala and Damayanthi. The story is such a big one that it is desighed to perform in four nights. The first day is till the marriage of Nala and Damayanthi. The second day is till Damayanthi reaches her father's palace, the third day is till Nala reaches Damayanthi's palace and the fourth day is Nala again gets back his Kingdom. I am sure that those who don't know Nalacharitham, this is vague. So we will see the complete Nala-Damayanthi story.
In Nalacharitham first day, the main charecters are:
Nala - Paccha
Sage Narada - Minukku (Maharshi)
Hamsam(The gold swan) - Special dress with yellow color dress, wings and beak
Damayanthi - Minukku (Lady)
Friends of Damayanthi - Minukku (Lady)
Indra -Paccha
Yama -Kurum Kathi
Agni -Special red color dress
Varuna -Paccha
Saraswathi -Minukku (Lady with a crown)
Even though I have written so many charecters above, you may not see all of them generally.
Nala, the king of Nishadha is famous for his good charecters. He is very generous, kind and affectionate towards the people in his country. He is handsome too. One day Sage Narada arrives at his palace. Nala with great respect and fear, welcomed him and asked him about the reason behind that arrival. Sage Narada mentioned about Damayanthi, the beautiful daughter of King Bhima. He also mentioned that she is well suited to him as his wife. Then sage left from the palace. Nala, who already heard about Damayanthi before from others, now become more affected. His love towards her increased and he is not able to do any work. So he gave the administration responsibilties to his ministers and left to sit alone for some time.
Nala tried to do many activites like doing some instruments, but everything ended up in thinking of Damayanthi. Then he decided to go to the garden. In garden the mell of flowers, the cacophony of birds etc irritates him. At that moment he saw a lot of swans in the pond. He got some sort of relaxation by seeing the swans and he noticed that one golden color swan sleeps on one corner of the pond lonely. Its body is completely gold in color. Nala slowly catched the swan using his hand and the swan woke up with a shock. It tried to flew away from there, but was already in Nala's hand. The swan started crying. the swan told that because of the gold on its 
body, Nala is not foing to become rich. Nala is surprised when he hear the voice of the swan. It speaks just like a human. The swan also added that its father is died, he is the only son, his wife and children will become widow and orphans. then Nala told him that he don't want to kill the swan. He caught the swan out of curiosity and Nala freed the swan. The swan flew away. Nala again started thinking about Damayanthi. Soon the swan came back and started showing the symbols of affection towards Nala. The swan then told like this,"Hey Nala, I haven't seen such a generous person in my life time. You are a very good personality. As you let me free, I would like to do a favour for you. Damayanthi, the daughter of Bhima is a beautiful princess and she will be the best suite for you. I will do the necessory things for your marriage". Nala replied him to do the needful at the earliest and the swan flew away towards Damayanthi.
The case of Damayanthi was not different. She heard about the good charecteristics of Nala from many people and she was also thinking only about him. Damayanthi along with her friends came to the garden and played for some time. Then she told her friends that she wanted to greturn to the palace. Then her friends replied,"When we were in the palace you told that you want to go to garden, when we are in the garden, you are telling that you want to go to palace. What is this? You see there are beutiful flowers here and very sweets sounds of birds etc.". But for her the smell of flowers and the sound of birds were irritating.
When they were about to return from there,
they saw a brightness on the sky. One of her friends has the opinion that it is the lightning coming down to the earth. Then the other one expressed that it is not lightning, but moon is coming down to the earth. Then Damayanthi told with enthusiasm that it is a Golden Swan which is
flying down towards the ground. She was very happy to see it. She liked the swan and desired to get it. Whenever Damayanthi comes near the swan, it expressed its obedience, whereas whenever her friends came near the swan, it irritated them. So Damayanthi told her friends to go away from there so that she can catch the swan.
Then Damayanthi tried to catch it, but whenever she felt that she caught it, it flew away from her. Thus the intelligent swan diverted her away from her friends and then told her this," Hey do you think you can catch me who flys in the sky? Even though you are young, your childish behaviour is still there. The elder people will blame you for your childish behaviour. I am living in Nala's country teaching ladies "Annannada" (walking of swan) as per the order of Lord Brahma." She was very happy to hear that the swan is from Nala's country. She expressed her desire to know more about Nala and thus the swan understood that she loves Nala. He praised Nala about his good character and also told that Nala and Damayanthi is like Perl and Gold. Also he told that just like Vishnu for Lakshmi, Moon for night, and Siva for Parvathi, Nala is for Damayanthi. Before leaving from there, Swan want to assure the love of Damayanthi. So he told like this, " What if your father gives you to somebody and you also likes him. Then whatever told today will be invain and people will call me useless fellow". Damayanthi replied," Hey swan, why did you have a doubt in your mind. A river flowing will ultimately join sea, a mountain will not think in some other way. Like that my father will not think of somebody else as my husband."
With that the swan left the place. Usually only these much is played nowadays. But the sory has much more. In short, Swan will come back near Nala and will tell about all the incidents happend. Meanwhile heavenly people like Indra who loves Damayanthi will approch Nala and will tell him to go near Damayanthi and tell he to marry one amoung them. Nala reluctantly obeyed their order. Also he got the magical pwer of not being seen by anybody for doing this job from Indra. But Damayanthi informed him that she will marry only Nala. Knowing this, all Devas took the form of Nala on the marriage day. Damayanthi got confused by this and she prayed Saraswathi. Saraswathi appeared before her and informed that the person who touches
the legs on earth's surface is the real Nala, because Devas won't touch their legs on earth's surface. Thus she married to Nala. The Devas took their real form and blessed the couples.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)