The Performing Art

          The sixteenth century also saw the writing of some dramatic works in Manipravalam and pure Malayalam Bharatavakyam, often described as a choral narration, is a work in Manipravalam which was used for stage performance. The authorship is uncertain, but the work seems to have been staged several times. It is a comedy with a large dose of farce in it. It may be regarded as the first roopakam in which Malayalam is combined with Sanskrit to present in a visual form, a story based on Kerala society, centring round a few characters such as a Nambudiri (Apphan), his Nayar wife, his manager (Ilayathu) and the children's tutor (Pisharoti).

          Margamkali was the form of ritual and entertainment among the Syrian Christians corresponding to the Sanghakali of the Brahmins. Margamkalippattu is the song for this performance depicting the story of St.Thomas, the Adpostle. This was one of the numerous pieces of Christian literature that must have gained currency in the 16th and 17th centureies.

Attakkatha

          The main development in the cultural field in Kerala in the 17th century was the growth of a new form of visual art called Attam or Kathakali, which brought into being a new genre of poetry called Attakkatha consisting of the libertto used for a Kathakali performance. Gitagovinda, a work in Sanskrit by the Oriya poetof the 12th century, Jayadeva, provided inspiration to Manaveda Raja of Kozhikode to set up a troupe to perform a dance-drama depicting the life of Krishna in eight parts. This Krishnattam was the model before the prince of Kottarakkara who invented Ramanattom to put on stage the story of Ramayana also in eight parts. Koodiyattom was classical Sanskrit drama patronized by the elite class; Padayani or Kolamthullal was popular among the loweer classes. In between there flourished various forms of ritualistic drama like Mudiyettu, Thiyyattu, Kalam Ezhuthu Pattu, Teyyam and Thira. The new are developed by Kottarakkara Thampuran appeared to combine the features of both. The evolution of Kathakali must have been a slow process and did not reach a final stage in the time of Kottarakkara Tampuran. The literature of Kathakali also came to develop its special features over the centuries.

          The Ramayana plays of Kottarakkara Tampuran are not distinguished by literary excellence. However, his farsightedness is clearly revealed in the structure he set up for this new genre. The narrative framework of an attakatha consists of quatrains in Sanskrit metres where the diction also is heavily Sanskritised; the dialogue part, however, is made up of padas which can be set to raga and tala and have to be rendered by means of gestures and body movements by the actors while being sung by the musicians from behind. The two-part structure is perhaps modeled on the Chambus. To judge an Attakatha solely on the basis of literary criteria would be unjust. It is a composite art and words of the text are only a pretext for the visual representation. Even the selection and arrangement of words and lines will be guided by considerations of stage production. The words must yield to representation through gestures; they must lend themselves to musical rendering and if possible respond in sympathy to the instrumental music that accompanies their recitation. The stories are usually well-known to the audience, being mostly taken from the Puranas. The success of the performance depends on the degree of synchronization achieved by the actors, vocalists, instrumentalists and other helpers. The style of production has a definite bearing on the literature of Kathakali. Kottarakkara's attakkathas are better on the stage than in the library: a silent reading may even irritate the reader. However, there are passages in some of these plays, which could be appreciated as literature, if one could simultaneously visualize the gestural rendering also. The last words of Bali to Rama in Balivadham, after the monkey king is mortally wounded in battle, are quite powerful:

King Raghava, please listen to my words,
Finding it difficult to kill me in a straight fight
You had to hide yourself and cheat me.
That is no good. If you met me straight
I would have killed you, brave one! ere now.
In my heart I think you were born amiss
Although you are the son of good Dasaratha.
Brave people do not resort to cheating
You did this to me because you are a very small man.
Tara had warned me, but rejecting her warning
I came here to fight and got killed by you.
Is a monkey's flesh eatable?
The skin, too, is useless, O jewel among men!
I who live in the forest never did
Anything untoward in your city.

          This may sound conventional outside the context of a Kathakali, but the conventionality may not be felt when action accompanies the words. Nevertheless it has to be conceded that Kottarakkara Tampuran was more of a dramatist than a poet, more of a connoisseur than an artist.

Kottayam Tampuran

           The greatest fillip to the growth of Attakkatha as a literary form and Kathakali as a performing art came from Koattayam Tampuran, a prince in the royal family of Northern Kottayam who is believed to have lived in the late 17th century. His main Attakkathas are Bakavadham, Kalyana Saughadhikam, Kirmiravadham and Kalakeyavadham. Their success led to the phenomenal popularity of this form of literary composition. Kottayam was a more gifted poet and scholar than Kottarakara, and in his hands Attakkatha attained a position of respectability. His quatrains are invariably in Sanskrit, but the padas are in Malayalam. Several of this padas are extremely poular not only with the Kathakali audience but even with the general public. They are also good as poetry. The dialogue between Hanuman and Bhima in Kalyana Saugandhikam or the one between Urvasi and Arjuna in Kalakeyavadham will bear out this point:

          Hanuman (pretending to be an old monkey, not revealing his identity as Bhima's elder brother):

Who is it that has come to my side,
Tell me, brave one, who is it?
Too old and tired am I:
How can I receive you properly?
I am too lazy also, O great Kind,
To great you and speak to you properly.

          Bhima (not knowing that the old monkey is his elder brother Hanuman who is going to test Bhima playfully):

Who is this fool, tell me, wicked fellow,
Get away from my path.
Have you not, old monkey, heard of me
The brave sun of the wind-good.
Why do you, for no reason, block my path?
I will kill you, no doubt, and
Send you to the god of death.

          Hanuman:       

O King, please do not be angry,
Please be kind, O supreme among men:
Kind-hearted one, equal to the lord of the sea!
Bhima: Know you that I am the brother of Maruti
Who smashed with his hand at once
Aksha, son of the Rakshasa Chief (Ravana)

          Hanuman:

You may remove my tail and clear the path:
And then you may proceed soon, O lotus-eyed one!

          Bhima:

Then you will see my powers
In the battlefield, no doubt, today,
You will be put to grief quite soon,
If you are brave and fight against me.
The dramatic irony anticipating boastful Bhima's collapse makes the passage really interesting.

Unnayi Warrier

           The end of the 17th century and the early quarter of the 18th century saw the enrichment of Kathakali literature by the production of Unnayi Warrier's Nalacharitam in four parts, the gratest attakkatha at all time. Unnayi Warrier was a poet of exceptional skill. His sense of drama, command over language, knowledge of dance and music and insight into human psychology enabled him to present the story of Nala and Damayanti in a compact form, observing auchitya to the maximum extent possible. He also sticks to the concept of a dominant rasa supported by other dependent rasas. The dramatic unravelling of the ups and downs in the career of a noble king and his beloved consort is magnificently achieved by Warrier. Variety in situation and characterization are provided by the introduction of characters like Kali, Pushkara, Rituparna, Karkotaka, Kattala and even the Hamsam (Swan). Even minor characters are presented as fulfledged human beings. Nalacharitham is the highwatermark of Kathakali literature mainly because of its profound human interest. The central plot is concerned with the fall of a noble and good man brought about by his accidental involvement in a game of dice and by the intervention of evil forces like Kali. He is rescued in the end, by his steadfastness and adherence to moral values. The heroine is unconsciously responsible for the jealousy of Kali, but at the end it is her goodness and her intelligence that come to the king's aid. King Nala and his queen, Damayanti, have become immortal characters, illustrating, through their suffereings the vicissitudes of human fortunes.

          Among the many special features of Nalacharitam, is the happy blending of poetry, abhinaya (acting) and nritya (dance). One of the most felicitous passages from this point of view is the scene between Damayanti and the Swan-messanger. The cleverness of the Swan in drawing Damayanti away from her maids is superb dramatic material. He follows it up with an equally clever way of revealing his identity to her. Once her curiosity is aroused, it is easy for the Swan to find out how much she is interested in Nala. With his encouragement, unsuspected by her, she tells him about her love for Nala. On getting confirmation of it, the Swan proceeds to Kundinam to take the good news to King Nala. In the third day's play we have a touching soliloquy by Nala, now separated from his wife, sleepless in his grief, in the saddest moment of his life:

In the lonely vast forest, alas,
O moon-faced one, what do you do, waking up in pain?
Who (is there) but the wolf for help? or,
Have you reached home, timid one?
When can I see your moon-bright face?
When embrace you body coveted by the gods?
Beloved, what did you get there when you were hungry,
As I lay in stupor born of illusion?
O god! my blessed one, I cannot bear to think of you
O parrot-tongued one, and the wild forest full of howling jackals.

          Unnayi Warrier seems to have been influenced by the pattern of classical drama in Sanskrit. This has helped him to tighten the structure, stead of leaving it loosely held together as in most attakkathas. The introduction of Narada as a kind of celestial Sutradhara to control and direct the course of the play provides a meaningful framework to the whole structure. His poetic gift has encouraged him to take freedom in the use of language. With the same boldness he has kept out as far as possible the merely conventional passages, often found in attakkathas but irrelevant to plot and character. Nalacharitam has an organic unity rarely found in attakkathas. Of all the writers of attakkathas Unnayi Warrier alone seems to have had the totality of his work in perspective; most of the others concentrated on the details and forgot about the whole. He was also more serious-minded than the others since there is a basically moral outlook controlling and underscoring the destinies of the characters presented by him. He must have meditated deeply on the presence of evil in the world and has tried to account for it in the course of his work.