Art and dance Forms of Kerala

Art and Dance forms of Kerala
● V.R.Ajith Kumar

Art and literature are the paths that reveals the culture of a nation or a society. We get the history of a society and its rich culture mainly from the art and the literary work made available to them. Thus we say India has rich cultural heritage and our ancestors were visionaries who contributed for the development of the society that we see now. That is why the art works of Ajantha Ellora caves attract hundreds of people. That is why Ramayana and Mahabharata lives through ages.

Can you think why the umbrella stones of Kerala astonishes the Archeologists? These were made during BC by our ancestors and nobody has an answer as to why they made such a huge stone art at that time. What inspired the artists to carve murals at Edakkal caves of Wayanad? May be all artists derive inspiration from the nature to do creative works. A sculptor uses a stone to carve beautiful sculpture, but criminal uses it to kill someone. Ones deed makes one creative and the other destructive. How does this happen? All are based on genetic inductions that one gets through generations and thus inborn. An artist cannot be moulded by mere training. He should have the inborn talent that can be scientifically supported by a teacher to improve.
We say America is a modern nation and is younger compared with age old nations like India, Iraq and Greece. They could make their material life rich, but cannot beat the rich traditions of the old countries, especially its culture. The art forms they possess cannot take life as that of India or Iraq. Pop music or dance can make an impact on the society which is receiving it, but it is short-liven. It is like a narcotic giving temporary inspiration, but the traditional art forms lives with the ages. A performance by an excellent dancer expands our vicinity, opening the way to a new world of unending imagination. Western dance never gives us imagery, but creates only a visual impact, blocking ones imagination.

In this context, we can think about Kerala’s art and culture. Like most of the Indian states , Kerala also has a long tradition of art and culture. The earliest people of Kerala belonged to megalithic period and we know about them from the granite, stone and pottery, found in different parts of Kerala. These include dolmens, cists, menhirs, rock cut caves and stone circles.
The origin of religions in Kerala narrates why the state has such great cultural diversity. The people of Kerala are a fusion of Dravidian and Aryan cultures, also influenced by the Arabs, the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Phoenicians, the Israelites and the Chinese; who came for trade. The basic ingredient necessary for the development of a composite culture were prevalent in Kerala even during the Sangham period, that is, early centuries of AD. This made the society adaptable to accept any new art, culture and religion to its fold. It made a good ground for various religions and thoughts to flourish. It continued till the beginning of Brahmanism, and caste based development of communities. Even though the society bore oppression for centuries, they never allowed the traditional art and dance forms to perish and constantly tried to perpetuate them in the modern society.

The art of painting in Kerala has a tradition , which goes back to the post-Ajantha period. Edakkal caves of Wayanad district tells the story of pictorial writing of pre historic civilization. The earliest murals are found in Thirunandikkara of Kanyakumari district which was then part of Kerala and presently belongs to Tamil Nadu. The performance of religious rites necessitated the development of a special kind of pictorial art known as Kalamezhuthu , a unique form of art found only in Kerala. The kalam is made using only natural powders and the choice of colour is mandatory.

Like Rajasthan, Kerala also has a rich tradition of murals. Murals painting evolved from the ancient Dravidian art of Kalamezhuthu. The subjects for murals were derived from religious texts. Palace and temple murals are highly stylized pictures of gods and goddesses . The colours chose by the artists have direct bearing on the characters portrayed. Green was used to represent Satwik quality. Rajaswik quality were portrayed in red or golden and the tamasik nature of the gods were represented in white ; and that of demons and demonesses were represented by black.

Kerala also has a rich musical culture. The style of music that existed in Kerala were peculiar to the region , confirming to the respective social strata and customs to which they belonged. Early developments in Carnatic Music in Kerala were based on the Tamil music and later adoptions from sopana sangeetham and koodiyattom were made. The rhythm of Kerala also has its own punch in its desi talas. Musical instruments very special to Kerala are numerous. Aramani, chandra valayam, chengala, elathalam, kaimani and kuzhithalam are the major idophonic musical instruments. Kombu,kuzhal, kurumkuzhal, nagaswaram, ottakuzhal,peepi and sankhu are a few dedicated wind instruments. Kerala has aravana, bheri, chenda, chettivadyam, edakka, kadumthudi, maddalam,mridangam, mizhavu,tappu,takil, timila,tudi,udukku etc. as percussion instruments and nanthuny, pulluvan kudam, pulluvan veena, tamburu and veena as the stringed instruments.

Kerala has a long tradition of ritual and performing arts. Dance performance has been a part of ceremony, rituals, celebrations and entertainment in the community life. The diversity of dance forms can be summed up as tribal, folk, classical, neo-classical and modern.. The aborigines of Kerala who are scattered in the jungles and hills of western ghats have their own rituals , dances and music. Despite the differences in performances, they are tied together by the use of drum. Costumes of the dancers range from scantly clad to full attire with ornaments , which are extremely colourful and brilliant. Elelakkaradi, kaanikkar nritham, paniyar kali are some of the major tribal dances of Kerala. Kerala is also rich with varied folk dance forms. Most of the folk dances are performed to the accompaniment of songs, which are sung by the dancers themselves or occasionally by a group of musicians. There are more than fifty folk dances in Kerala. Theyyam, Kaikottikali, Brahmani pattu, Kolkali, Kakkarasi kali, Sarpam thullal, Purattu, Pulayar kali, Poorakkali, Patayani, Kurathiyattom, Margam kali, Oppana, Kummatti kali are some of the famous and ancient dance forms that make Kerala culture rich.

Classical dances are based fully or partially on the principles and techniques embodied in the ancient Hindu scriptures and technical text on dance and allied arts. The difference between classical and folk dance is that there is a purposeful attempt at artistry in the former. Koothu , Koodiyattom, Patakam, Ashtapathy attom, Krishnattom, Thullal, Mohiniyattom and Kathakali are the most important classical dances of Kerala. In Chavittu nadakam, we can see the western influence blended with Kerala style.

People of Kerala are bound to tradition so the changes in the art and dance forms may not be acceptable to them. Even then many modern artists are trying to develop new forms of art and dances blending on traditional rhythms and steps with the modern concepts and ideas they developed. To improve the cultural diversity, adaptation to new thoughts and visions are quintessential. Time will tell the survival of the old and the new.
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