KOTTARAKARA THAMPURAN IS THE FOUNDER OF KATHAKALI

KOTTARAKARA THAMPURAN

IS THE FOUNDER OF KATHAKALI
Kottarakkara Thampuran is regarded as the founder of Kathakali – one of the most popular classical Indian dance-drama. Kathakali is believed to have been originated mainly from two dance-drama forms named Ramanattam and Krishnanattam – the former dealt with presentation of the life and activities of Lord Rama, while the later tells the story of Lord Krishna

 Kottarakkara Thampuran (the King of Kottarakkara or Veera Kerala Varma) wrote the first story for Kathakali performance. The story was divided into eight poetic sections depicting various incidents of the great Indian epic Ramayana. The eight plays wrote by Kottarakara Thampuran are Putrakameshti, Seetha Swayamvaram, Vicchinnabhishekam, Kharavadham (Khara Vadham), Balivadham (Bali Vadham), Thoranayudham (Thorana Yudham), Sethubandhanam, and Yudham. Each story performance lasted from 6 to 8 hours and was known as Ramanattam. Later, stories from puranas and other Hindu epics were included and Ramanottam became popularly known as Kathakali. Kathakali also shares similarities with other traditional and ritualistic art forms including Ashtapadiyattam (an adaptation of 12th-century musical called Gitagovindam), Koodiyattam (a classical Sanskrit drama existing in Kerala), Theyyam , Padayani, and Mudiyettu. Once upon a time, Kottarakkara was the capital of the famous Ilayidathu swaroopam.The historical evidences collected from here reveals that about seven - palaces - existed there. The land of kottaram’s later became Kottarakkara. Besides Manikanteswaram temple, owned by the Ilayidathu dynasty is the Kottarakkara kovilakam of which, historical evidences are available from the sixth century of Malayalam era. Kottarakkara kovilakam was the younger 'thavazhy'(branch) of the Venad dynasty. So this was known as the Ilayidathu (younger) swaroopam, and also as Kunninmel. The land spreads from Kottarakkara, Pathanapuram and Nedumangad to Chenkottai(now in Tamil Nadu) in the east.
Chera Udaya Marthandavarma, who ruled Venad during AD 1383-1444, is supposed to have built the palace. But, according to the famous historian Sooranad Kunjanpillai, the Kunninmel dynasty has been mentioned in the Mathilakam Books in the year 1345 itself.  In Hinduism, Ganesha refers to the "lord of the hosts," also spelled as Ganesha and Ganesh, often also referred to as Ganapati - and is one of the most well-known and venerated representations of God (Brahman). He is the first born son of Shiva and Parvati, and the husband of Bharati, Buddhi and Siddhi. He is also called Vinayaka in Marathi, Malayalam and Kannada, Vinayagar and Pillayar (in Tamil), and Vinayakudu in Telugu. 'Ga' symbolizes Buddhi (intellect) and 'Na' symbolizes wisdom. Ganesha is thus considered the master of intellect and wisdom. He is depicted as a big-bellied, reddish-hued God with four arms and the head of a one-tusked elephant, attended to(riding on) by a mouse. He is frequently represented sitting down, with one leg raised in the air and bent over the other. The cult of Ganesha is widely diffused, even outside of India. His devotees are called 'Ganapatya'. As is the case with every other external form with which Hinduism represents god, in the sense of the personal appearance of Brahman (also referred to as Ishvara, the Lord), the figure of Ganesha too is an archetype loaded with multiple meanings and symbolism which expresses a state of perfection as well as the means of obtaining it. Ganesha, in fact, is the symbol of he who has discovered the divinity within himself. Ganesha is the first sound, OM, in which all hymns were born. When Shakti (Energy) and Shiva (Matter) meet, both Sound (Ganesha) and Light (Skanda) were born.
        He represents the perfect equilibrium between force and kindness and between power and beauty. He also symbolizes the discriminative capacities which provide the ability to perceive distinctions between truth and illusion, the real and the unreal. Ganesha figures are most commonly seen with four hands. Some figures may be seen with six, some with eight, some with ten, some with twelve and some with fourteen hands, each hand carrying a symbol which differs from the symbols in other hands, there being about fifty-seven symbols in all, according to some scholars. The image of Ganesha is a composite one. Four animals, man, elephant, the serpent and the mouse have contributed to the makeup of his figure. All of them individually and collectively have deep symbolic significance. The serpent or dragon is an archetype for DNA. In general terms, Ganesha is a much beloved and frequently invoked deity, since he is the Lord of Good Fortune who provides prosperity and fortune and also the Destroyer of Obstacles of a material or spiritual order. It is for this reason that his grace is invoked before the undertaking of any task (e.g. traveling, taking an examination, conducting a business affair, a job interview, performing a ceremony etc.) with such incantations as Om Gum Ganapathaye Namah(hail the name of Ganesha) where Bijakshara(root syllable) is Gum which perfectly represents Lord Ganapathi when sounds correctly. It is also for this reason that, traditionally, all sessions of bhajan (devotional chanting) begin with an invocation of Ganesha, Lord of the "good beginnings" of chants. Throughout India and the Hindu culture, Lord Ganesha is the first idol placed into any new home or abode. Moreover, Ganesha is associated with the first chakra (energy wheel), which represents the instinct of conservation and survival, of procreation and material well-being.The place that we now call Mahaganapathy temple is actually Kizhakkekara Shiva Temple. The main deity is none other than Lord Shiva himself – Shiva facing eastward. In fact Ganapathy is a minor deity here, but the temple today is famous as a Ganapathy temple rather than a Shiva temple.The legend behind this is that Kizhakkekara temple was the property of two Nampoothiri houses – Akavoor and Oomanpally. Padinjattinkara Siva temple belonged to the royal house of Elayidathu.One day, before sunrise, rituals were taking place for the consecration of Shiva at the Pandinjattinkara temple, the work of which was managed by the legendary Uliyannoor Perumthachan Outside the temple , while listening to the manthras , he started chiselling a piece of jackfruit tree. To his surprise, he found that it was the form of ‘Ganapathy’ that was taking shape. Thus he asked the chief priest to enshrine ‘Ganapathy’ also after the consecration of Shiva. The chief priest denied. “This is a Shiva temple. Ganapathy cannot be consecrated here.” Perumthachan, desperate, walked towards the east and thus reached Kizhakkekkara Shiva temple. At that time priest was preparing offerings which was the delicious 'koottappam'. Perumthachan asked him “Can you consecrate Ganapathy here”. The priest agreed to Perumthachan's demand. Perumthachan viewed the place- Siva facing east, in front of it there is the temple pond(presence of river Ganga), Sri Parvathy is facing towards the west. South-west there is Sastha and north-west Subrahmanya. If Ganapathy too is installed, Shiva family will be complete. The place will be none other than Mount Kailas itself. Thus Ganapathy was installed south-east by Perumthachan.
     Perumthachan then asked the priest “Lord Ganapathy must be hungry. What is the sacrificial food that you have prepared?”. “Koottappam”, the priest said. On a leaf, the priest placed seven Koottappams(Unniyappams) stringed together. Perumthachan, with all his heart, devoted his first offering - the 'Koottappam'. Koottappam is still known to be the most wanted nivedhya for Kottarakkara Ganapathy. After the offering Perumthachan affectionately declared “Though father is the main diety, the son will be much more famous”. His words proved to be true. Kizhakkekkara Shiva temple is now known as Kottarakkara Ganapathy temple. After the consecration of Ganapathy, the chief priest keenly looked at the idol. He realized that Ganapathy was starving even after snatching and consuming the 'Aval'(a kind of food) from his father Shiva and also swallowing every eatable that came his way at Kubera’s residence. The priest decided to submit something big before Ganapathy. He collected rice powder, kadalippazham and jaggery, which were meant to make food for the chief deity, Lord Siva. He started making Unniyappam, in front of Lord Ganapathy. With the mid-rib of the blade of a coconut-leaf he tied together the Unniyappam and submitted it before Ganapathy.  Later, it was found that Ganesa was very much fond of making unniyappam in front of him. From then onwards Kottarakkara Ganapthy’s Unniyappam attracted devotees around the globe. Irrespective of caste and creed they queue before the temple for getting Unniyappam(Koottappam).

       It is believed that the world famous art form of Kerala, took birth in the land of Ganesa, Kottarakkara. Kathakali took form in the seventeenth century. There are some legends behind its origin.One day Kottarakkara thampuran, requested the Zamorin of Kozhickode, Manaveda, to send a team of Krishnanattam performers for a festival. But the Zamorin sarcastically denied the request. This was an insult to the Thampuran. Kottarakkara Thampuran went to the Ganapathy temple and pleaded for a way. Then on the surface of his mind arose the plan to create a new art form. He sat on the banks of the temple’s pond looking intothe water. There he saw different shapes of waves in scintillating colour combinations. From this experience Thampuran created the costume designs of Kathakali. He wrote Ramanattam sitting beneath the banyan tree near the temple. Thus it was as a reply to the Zamorin’s sarcasm that Thampuran created a new art form, Ramanattam. This art form later developed into Kathakali. The people around Kottarakkara believed that Kathakali became famous with the blessings of The Lord Ganapathy. The first staging of Ramanattam was done in front of Ganesha. Today also Kathakali occupies a prominent position in the programmes of the festival. ome historians point out that Thampuran created the new art form from the essence of a famous art form called Parappettam, which prevailed in the land during his time. Kathakali also shares a lot of similarities with Krishnanattam, Koodiyattam (a classical Sanskrit drama existing in Kerala) and Ashtapadiyattam (an adaptation of 12th-century musical called Gitagovindam). It also incorporates several other elements from traditional and ritualistic art forms like Mudiyettu, Thiyyattu, Theyyam and Padayani besides a minor share of folk arts like Porattunatakam. All along, the martial art of Kalarippayattu has influenced the body language of Kathakali. The use of Malayalam, the local language (albeit as a mix of Sanskrit and Malayalam, called Manipravalam), has also helped the literature of Kathakali sound more transparent for the average audience. The characters with painted faces and elaborate costumes besides advanced choreography (primarily developed Kaplingad Narayanan Namboodiri - 1739-1789) to re-enact stories -- largely from the Hindu epics. Kathakali has traditionally been performed in temples and palaces, but over the past century it also finds venues in post-harvest paddy fields and, since the last few decades, in proscenium stages of public halls/auditoria and even in pagentry shows (in bits) of late.Overall, what initially began as a rustic, uncivilised form gradually gained exquisite looks, sophisticated movements and complementary audio support to graduate itself as one of the world's most advanced dance-dramas today.
      The major vazhipadu of Kottarakkara temple is the famous Udayasthamaya pooja. There is an interesting legend behind this peculiar vazhipadu. This incident took place at the time of the construction of the temple. Kottarakkara Thampuran was not happy with Perumthachan, because he consecrated the diety of Ganesa at the Kizhakkekkara temple. Actually Thampuran’s plan to build a new temple came from some dislike with the Mana, who owned the Kizhakkekkara temple. One day with much sarcasm,Thampuran asked Perumthachan, “Is your Ganapathy that brilliant?” Thachan asserted, “Yes”. Then Thampuran challenged Perumthachan and asked him to ask Ganapathy to give him a son. Perumthachan accepted the challenge and asked, “What you will you offer as a reward?" Thampuran declared “I will completely cover the idol with Unniyappam”. Before one year Thampuratty become pregnant and gave birth to a beautiful young boy. At the day of the newly born baby’s Choroonu preparations began to make unniappam. The choroonu ceremony can take place only after covering the idol with unniappam. The thampuran firmly believed that the idol being small would be covered within no time. Though unniappam was made right from morning, even at noon the idol could not be covered upto the waist. An old man was witness to all that was happening there. He came forward and asked the Thampuran,”Have you been testing Ganapathy? You will not be able to keep your word as you are filled with pride. As you have been making unniappams right from dawn to dusk and now that you have realized that you are insignificant before Him, you can stop your offerings.” That was the first Udayasthamanavazhipadu.

That night, Thampuran had a dream in which the old man appeared before him and said,"I am Ganapathy. You should not test me again. Every month you must do the Udayasthamana pooja”. Thus till his death the Thampuran did the pooja. From then onwards Udayasthamaya pooja become a major vazhipadu for Kottarakkara Ganapathy. Like most other Vinayaka temples, here also Ashtadravya Ganapathyhomam acquires a prominent place. Other important offerings includes, breaking of coconuts, thulabharam,chathussatham,thrimadhuram,archana and pushpanjali.Other deities whom we can worship here are Sri Parvathy, Lord Subrahmanya, Lord Ayyappa, Serpant deities etc.

  The  Kottarakara Thampuran memorial awards-2011, instituted jointly by the Kerala Sahitya Samskarika Samithy and the Kerala Freelance Jopurnalists Association, will be given to Manambur ajanbabu for his anthology of poems,Isaac Eapen for his story Colony Vazhcha and C.P Krishna kumar for his novel Uyarangalilekku ‘. Kerala Sahitya Akademi president Sri Perumbadavam will distribute the award later.

                                                 Prof. John Kurakar