{"id":279,"date":"2017-10-02T17:51:36","date_gmt":"2017-10-02T14:51:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/?p=279"},"modified":"2026-05-13T16:35:59","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T13:35:59","slug":"tullal-a-semi-classical-one-man-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/tullal-a-semi-classical-one-man-show\/","title":{"rendered":"Tullal<\/em>, a Semi-Classical One-Man Show"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/a>
Ottam tullal<\/em>, like other forms of tullal<\/em>, is a one-man show Jukka O. Miettinen<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Tullal<\/em> (\u201cjumping\u201d) refers to a form of one-man dance-theatre as well as to a literary tradition created for it. The tradition is said to have been invented by an exceptional actor-poet in the early 18th<\/sup> century. Tullal<\/em> has three subcategories. All of them are characterised by a certain kind of poetry and dynamic performance style. In its straightforwardness Tullal<\/em> represents folk theatre, which, however, employs elements of classical acting technique.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The History<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It is generally thought that tullal<\/em> was the invention of one man, Kuchan Nambiar, who was active in the mid-18th<\/sup> century. Legends surround this exceptional individual. Originally he was neither a professional dancer nor a poet. It is said that his genius lay in his inclination to become possessed. It seems, however, that he wrote dozens of tullal<\/em> texts and was patronised by two rulers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Texts<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As has already been mentioned, tullal<\/em> refers both to theatrical genre as well as to the texts, written in Malayalam with a particular metric mode. Kuchan Nambiar used themes borrowed from the Mahabharata<\/em>, the Ramayana<\/em>, and other stories that already existed, but he gave the themes a surprisingly contemporary angle. Thus tullal<\/em>, indeed, is a typical form of popular theatre, intended to be directly understood by all kinds of audiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Later, several authors created tullal<\/em> texts, but of the approximately 100 texts some ten are now actively performed, all of them attributed to Kuchan Nambiar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Music<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Although tullal<\/em> can be regarded as a form of popular theatre, its music is far from being simple. Rhythmically it is very intricate, while its singing style employs Carnatic ragas<\/em>, although in simplified forms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Acting<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
A temporary tullal<\/em> stage in front of a temple in Central Kerala Jukka O. Miettinen<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Like most of the theatrical forms of Kerala, tullal<\/em> is also generally performed in front of a large oil lamp. The stage is an empty space, and no hand-held curtains or any props are used. A performance usually lasts some two hours. The performances may take place in the daytime or in the evening. In both cases it is performed in front of a lightened oil lamp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
A tullal<\/em> actor employs the mimetic abhinaya<\/em> acting technique while he sings his lines at the same time Jukka O. Miettinen<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Although tullal<\/em> is predominately a verbal form of art, it employs, however, the gesture language derived from the local manual Hasta Lakshanadeepika<\/em>. The gestures and the abhinaya<\/em> mimetic acting, as a whole, are executed in a more or less sketchy manner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus the tullal<\/em> style acting is a combination of abhinaya<\/em> acting, dancing, and singing. It is a demanding technique, since the performer must sing and dance simultaneously. Besides that, he must be able to memorise long poems and be able to improvise on them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As in most of the theatrical styles of Kerala, the actual performance in tullal<\/em> is also preceded by preliminary rituals and ceremonies. They include intricate nrtta<\/em> or non-descriptive dances, one of them danced with the performer\u2019s back turned to the audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Types of Tullal<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There are three types of tullal<\/em> with their own costume and make-up styles. Ottan tullal<\/em> is characterised by facial make-up similar to the paccha<\/em> make-up of kathakali<\/em>, with a green base and white borders made of rice paste (chutti)<\/em>. The headgear is a kind of a crown in the form of a many-headed snake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The dancer in parayan tullal<\/em> also wears headgear with a snake motif, but the make-up is simpler than in ottan tullal<\/em>. The eyes are made expressive with black outlines while the dancer\u2019s body is covered with sandalwood paste.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In seetankan tullal<\/em> the costume bears similarities to the archaic teyyam<\/em><\/a> costume. The crown-like headgear is constructed from palm leaves while the ornaments resemble live flowers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tullal (\u201cjumping\u201d) refers to a form of one-man dance-theatre as well as to a literary […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2398,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-india"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=279"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4758,"href":"https:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279\/revisions\/4758"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}