Future of Pavakathakali hangs by a slender thread
K.K. GOPALAKRISHNAN
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Pavakathakali, a form of glove puppetry that is prevalent only in Kerala, does not have too many takers in the State.
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RACONTEUR: Sreenivasan narrates stories from the epics.
Pavakathakali is the traditional glove puppetry of Kerala, almost confined to the Paruthippully village of Palakkad district and surrounding areas. This form of puppetry is believed to have reached Kerala during the 18th century through the roaming `Andi pandarams' of Andhra Pradesh.
"All over the world, many of the practitioners of glove-puppetry are predominantly nomadic. They adapt their puppetry to blend with the literature of the most popular art form of the region and make it popular by designing their puppets for that art from. Hence, in Kerala the art of glove-puppetry became Pavakathakali, as the Andi pandarams were inspired by Kathakali," says Sreenivasan, a reputed exponent of the art.
`Kalyanasougandhigam' and `Duryodhanavadham' from the Mahabharata, `Balivadham,' `Ravanotbhavam' and `Thoranayudham' from the Ramayana and `Dakshayaga' from Sivapuranam are stories performed in a traditional Pavakathakali format.
"Unfortunately, there are only six practitioners of the art, including two cousins from the traditional andi pandaram family in Paruthippully village of Palakkad, K.V. Ramakrishnan and K.C Ramakrishnan," rues Sreenivasan.
"K.V. Ramakrishnan is a genius of the art form as he used to perform with puppets in both hands and he also used to sing the story," adds Sreenivasan whose "pilgrimage towards the art was quite accidental."
To concentrate more on the movements of the puppets, which are primarily moved with three fingers, a professional Kathakali singer accompanies Sreenivasan during his performances.
In the Eighties, speakers at a seminar at the School of Drama in Thrissur highlighted the sad state of Pavakathakali as a dying art with few takers to continue the tradition.
Inspired by the speeches, Sreenivasan approached G. Venu who trained him in the art form. "By then most of the puppets that were used had become decrepit and not many people knew how to make them. It was the late Thottassery Namboodiripad of Chengannur who made all the present-day puppets," says Sreenivasan.
G. Ravi is one of the few people who learned this from Namboodiripad.
A great fan of Kathakali, Koodiyattam and Thayambaka, Sreenivasan says, "The Koodiyattam performances that I saw at the Vadakunnathan temple along with my grand father were always an inspiration."
The innumerable Kathakali and Koodiyatom performances that he saw made it easy for him to learn the Kathakali padams for the Pavakathakali performance.
Sreenivasan's regrets the shrinking audience and space in Kerala for this rich art form. "On the international stage, Pavakathakali occupies an important position along with Chinese puppetry," he says.
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