AKAM- Katha Diary of Events

Katha I

The first Katha event, Katha I: Ramayana and Other Stories, was inaugurated on 22 Jan 2010, by the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Jancy James. Prof. Richman talked about “The Unique Ramayana Traditions of South India,” based on her recent work, Ramayana Stories in Modern South India: An Anthology.

It was full house. There was an incredible turn out at Hotel Highway Castle where the event was held due to lack of facilities at the hired premises of the CUK.

During the post-lunch session, extending the Ramayana story to the coast of Malabar, Prof. MN Karassery delivered a lecture on “Literary Traditions of North Malabar.” Professor Karassery’s talk acted as a prelude to the cultural evening that began with readings from the Mappila Ramayanam (original and translation) by himself and Paula. (Mapplia Ramayanam is an Islamic

Ramayanam, in the Muslim dialect of Northern Malabar, which was popularised by Hassankutty, “the Mad” who wandered about singing it aloud)

Katha I brought together many elements of the local culture in its fold: a docu-film (20minutes) on Cockfight (a favourite sport of warrior tribes and people living in the coastal Tulunadu region, that has its mention in the literature of the Sangham Age, and is acknowledged as one of the sixty-four arts); Photography on Kambala or Buffalo Race (played to show gratitude to the gods, who protect the crops from destruction); and the staging of Yakshagana Bombeyattam (puppetry in the style of Yakshagana, an audio-visual folk art popular in the southern parts of coastal Karnataka and northern Kerala) featuring the story of “Narakasura Vadham” from the Bhagavatha.

Katha II

Katha II was a one-day event titled KATHA II: HEROES AND ANTI - HEROES AT PLAY. It was conceived as a continuation of the first Katha event, and Prof. Paula Richman herself delivered the keynote lecture on 13 January 2011.

The focus of the second edition of Katha was ‘The Tragic Hero and the Indian Dramatic Tradition’ with special reference to the character of ‘Ravana’. In order to bring home the comparative orientation of the programme, we strove to weave various narratives – oratory, poetry, film, dance-drama – into the fabric of Katha II, through the participation of Prof. Kalpetta Narayanan, V Kaladharan and Kalamandalam Shanmughan, apart from Prof. Richman.

Post lunch, Prof. Richman delivered the second part of the Katha Lecture, “The Tragic Hero in Indian Drama with Special Reference to Ravana: A Thematological View.” This was followed by a talk – “Ravana: The Liberator” by Kalpetta Narayanan (Poet, critic and cultural theorist).

The Poetry Reading on ‘Ravana’ by the students of the CUK that included readings from the Kamba Ramayana, Keemayana, Kunjan Nambiar’s Tullal Pattu, and other contemporary poetic expositions on the character of Ravana, flaged off the cultural evening. There was a screening of the video of Lanka Lakshmi based on CN Sreekantan Nair’s celebrated play, featuring the late actor, Murali.

The final event of the programme was a performance of the Tapasattam segment of the Kathakali play “Ravanotbhava’ by Kalamandalam Shanmughan and his team. The live music featured Kalanilayam Ratheesh on Chenda, Vocal music by Kalamandalam Vinod, Maddalam by Kalamandalam Hariharan. Kalamandalam Shanmughan’s make up was by Kalamandalam Sukumaran and his green-room assistant was Unnikrishnan.