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STUDY OF KERALA-THEATRE KUTIYATTAM Kutiyattam is a popular Uparupaka form of dance-drama, employing the local languae which had developed, earlier to Krsnanattom and Kathakali in Kerala. It had a lineage bound to the classical Sanskrit production. It is well-known that Kathakali or Ramanattom goes through the Krsnanattom to Kutiyattom. Kathakali, with its popularity, has overshadowed Krsnanattom and Kutiyattam. Here is something, the only living soure, from which the authentic traditional Sanskrit play-production could be reconstructed, and given the resources needed, enthusiast could endeavour to produce the works of Kalidasa, Sudraka and Harsa in a way different from the modern realistic style in which they are handled now in any part of India. With music, dance and abhinaya the ancient Sanskrit production was really an art of dance-drama utilising fully the intrinsic and purely artistic resources of Natyadharmi. Although the plinitude and perfection of this display could not be seen in Kutiyattam, yet it is in that one gets glimpses of the glory of the abhinaya of the Sanskrit play, (glimpses of which, aided by imagination and knowledge of the Sanskrit Natyasastra, could help one in visualising how it would have all been done in heydey of the classical Sanskrit stage). As regards the date of this tradition of Sanskrit production in Kerala, available evidence would point to the 10th century A.D., the time of King Kulasekhara, the author of the Subhadra-dhananjaya The common nomenclature 113

of some ragas in the music of Kutiyattam resemble with the devaram music tradition in Tamil. Inclusion of the ragas like Indala, Srikamara and Kaisiki points to the same period. The essence of Kutiyattom is in the Angikabhinaya. Drama or Rupaka is called vakyarthabhinaya while Uparupaka and forms of dance-drama are called padarthabhinaya. The actor has first to express the whole or bhava which is the vakyartha and then come to its break-up and interpret word by padartha. The vakyartha is shown prominently by the actions of the parts of the face chiefly by the eyes, that is, in terms of Bharata, by the abhinaya of the upangas. The second aspect of this abhinaya, especially of the beautiful verses which blossom forth on the dialogues like flowers on the boughs, is the improvisation. Several ideas and sentiments are unfolded and elaborated through the techniques of abhinaya. The very scheme of sancaribhavas and the detailed description of the anubhavas, and again the elaboration of the interpretation through the six stages of Sarirabhinaya - all set forth by Bharata, show that this should have been the ancient and traditional way of interpreting the text of the plays. Although there are no old manuals of such abhinaya handed down in Sanskrit for the classical plays, some indications of the time of interpretation in the actual manuals for a play are there in Kuttanimata in the Kutiyattam tradition. 114

In the Natyakalpadruma Mani Madhava Cakyar says that the mudras of Kutiyattam generally follow the Hastalaksanadipika Therefore in the study of the Hastalaksanadipika the mudras of Kutiyattam should also be studied and compared.