A master remembered
VINU VASUDEVAN
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The birth centenary of Kathakali maestro Kavungal Sankaran Kutty Panikkar, a stalwart of the Kavungalchitta, was celebrated recently.
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Trailblazer: Kavungal Sankaran Kutty Panikkar as `Kattalan.'
Kavungalchitta, which is considered to be one of the oldest styles in Kathakali, is about 250 years old. The speciality of this school is its technical perfection and stylised acting. Eminent artistes from this tradition once reigned supreme in Kerala and enchanted the audience with their acting and narrative techniques. Among them, Kavungal Sankara Panikkar was the most famous performer. Panikkar was ostracised for his involvement with Kuriyedathu Thathri in the infamous `Smarthavicharam' that took place in the 19th century. But the 20th century witnessed some rapid changes in the growth of Kavungalchitta. Kavungal Sankaran Kutty Panikkar and Chathunni Panikkar, two young artistes, entered the scene and took the stage by storm with their expressive mudras and adherence to the Kavungal school. The birth centenary of Sankaran Kutty Panikkar was celebrated in Thrissur to pay homage to this great artiste who gave a new direction and aesthetic sense to Kathakali.
Birth of an artiste
Sankaran Kutty Panikkar was born in 1905, at Thichur, a village near Thrissur. Sankara Panikkar is said to have predicted that his nephew `would grow and become famous... tell his mother to call him by my name.' That prediction came true. Sankaran Kutty's initial training in Kathakali was under Konthunni Panikkar and Koppad Appunni Pothuval, who followed the `Kavungalchitta.'
After that he trained under Pattikkamthodi Ravunni Menon, the founder of the `Kalluvazhichitta.' The 12 years of training under Ravunni Menon honed Panikkar's innate talent and he became a leading artiste.
Pacha (the hero), kathi (villain) and vellathadi (Hanuman) were the masterpiece veshams of Panikkar. He also handled kari and Krishna veshams very well. Panikkar's dual role was that of a performer and heir to the `Kavungalchitta.' He joined a `kaliyogam' owned by `Vadhayan Mana' and started training Kathakali artistes. After 10 years Panikkar gave up his job and joined Raja's High School, Kollangode, near Palakad, as the main teacher of Kathakali. That was a golden period of Sankaran Kutty Panikkar's career when he became a popular artiste. Sankaran Kutty Panikkar became one of the top artistes in Travancore and his veshams became the highlight of Kathakali performances in the palace kaliyogams. For around 30 years he performed various veshams in the palace kaliyogams.
True artiste
Sankaran Kutty Panikkar was a true artiste in every sense of the word. He never made any compromises in his art and refused to play to the gallery. He believed that one should have a devotional approach towards the art form. He strongly believed that being a classical art form, Kathakali should adhere to its traditional structure and character. He made invaluable contributions to the art form by choreographing three new attakathas named `Manikanta Vijayam,' `Preethy Vibhavam' and `Karna and Kunthi,' which were penned by Prof. V. Vijayan.
Honoured by the kings of erstwhile Travancore and Cochin, he was also felicitated by the President of India in 1961. In 1989, Panikkar retired from the stage at the age of 84.
His last vesham was at Sri Sastha Temple premises at Thichur, where he had made his debut many years back. .
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