{"id":291,"date":"2017-10-02T17:55:24","date_gmt":"2017-10-02T14:55:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/?p=291"},"modified":"2021-10-19T14:24:17","modified_gmt":"2021-10-19T11:24:17","slug":"nangiarkuttu-the-female-branch-of-kutiyattam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/nangiarkuttu-the-female-branch-of-kutiyattam\/","title":{"rendered":"<em>Nangiarkuttu<\/em>, The Female Branch of <em>Kutiyattam<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t\t<style type=\"text\/css\">\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 {\n\t\t\t\tmargin: auto;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-item {\n\t\t\t\tfloat: left;\n\t\t\t\tmargin-top: 10px;\n\t\t\t\ttext-align: center;\n\t\t\t\twidth: 50%;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 img {\n\t\t\t\tborder: 2px solid #cfcfcf;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-caption {\n\t\t\t\tmargin-left: 0;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\/* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes\/media.php *\/\n\t\t<\/style>\n\t\t<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-291 gallery-columns-2 gallery-size-full'><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/in050.jpg'><img width=\"400\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/in050.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-985\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-985'>\n\t\t\t\tPhysical, dance-like acting also forms part of the <em>nangiarkuttu<\/em> technique <span>Jukka O. Miettinen<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/in049.jpg'><img width=\"400\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/in049.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-984\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-984'>\n\t\t\t\tMuch of <em>nangiarkuttu\u2019s<\/em> mimetic narration is performed while the actress sits on a wooden stool <span>Jukka O. Miettinen<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><br style=\"clear: both\" \/>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p><i>Nangiarkuttu<\/i> (also <i>nangiar koothu<\/i>) is a one-woman type of ritual theatre, originally performed in the temple theatres in Kerala. Just like <i>kutiyattam<\/i> and <i>kathakali,<\/i> it concentrates on mimetic <i>abhinaya<\/i> acting. Traditionally the stories cover the life cycle of the god Krishna. It is performed by <i>Nangiars<\/i>, women of the <i>Nambiar<\/i> families, while the accompanying music is played by <i>Nambiars<\/i>.<\/p>\n<h2>History<\/h2>\n<p><i>Nangiarkuttu<\/i> clearly has a very long history, although it is not known in detail. Even the 2<sup>nd<\/sup> century AD <i>Drama Manual<\/i>, the <i>Natyashastra<\/i>, mentions similar kinds of female solo performance types.<\/p>\n<p><i>Nangiarkuttu<\/i> was performed solely in the temple theatres and during certain cremation ceremonies, although the last of such a kind of ceremony is known to have been held a century ago. <i>Nangiarkuttu<\/i> was slowly dying out until the early 1980s, when important gurus and actresses started its vigorous revival.<\/p>\n<p><i>Nangiarkuttu<\/i> is now also performed outside the temple theatres. Besides the Krishna\u2019s story, which has traditionally been the content of <i>nangiarkuttu<\/i>, now other stories are also enacted. <i>Nangiarkuttu<\/i> has recently been added to the syllabus of the State Theatre School, Kerala Kalamandalam. The future of <i>nangiarkuttu<\/i> seems bright, both nationally and internationally.<\/p>\n<h2>The Text<\/h2>\n<p>Traditionally the text enacted by <i>nagiarkuttu<\/i> has been the <i>Sree Krishna Charitam<\/i> (Story of Krishna), which consists of 216 <i>sloka<\/i> verses. It describes Krishna\u2019s life from his birth to the end of the story cycle. The <i>Rama Charitam<\/i> (Story of Rama) was also added to the repertory later, and recently a story cycle based on the life of Draupadi from the Mahabharata has been dramatised like <i>nangiarkuttu<\/i>. The <i>sloka<\/i> verses combine several languages. The narration is usually in Sanskrit while the characters\u2019 direct spoken lines may be in Prakrit or in Malayalam.<\/p>\n<h2>Ritual Aspects<\/h2>\n<p><i>Nangiarkuttu<\/i> was originally a form of temple offering and its full execution took 12 consecutive days. Complicated rituals precede the actual play, including purification ceremonies, worship of the deity of the temple, and a ritual dance performed behind a hand-held curtain. After the performer has done her make-up and put on her attire and the headgear she becomes a personification of the mother goddess Bhagavati.<\/p>\n<h2>The Performance<\/h2>\n\n\t\t<style type=\"text\/css\">\n\t\t\t#gallery-2 {\n\t\t\t\tmargin: auto;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-2 .gallery-item {\n\t\t\t\tfloat: left;\n\t\t\t\tmargin-top: 10px;\n\t\t\t\ttext-align: center;\n\t\t\t\twidth: 50%;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-2 img {\n\t\t\t\tborder: 2px solid #cfcfcf;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-2 .gallery-caption {\n\t\t\t\tmargin-left: 0;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\/* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes\/media.php *\/\n\t\t<\/style>\n\t\t<div id='gallery-2' class='gallery galleryid-291 gallery-columns-2 gallery-size-full'><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/in051.jpg'><img width=\"400\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/in051.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-2-989\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-2-989'>\n\t\t\t\tThe focus of <em>nangiarkuttu<\/em> is on <em>abhinaya<\/em> mime acting <span>Jukka O. Miettinen<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/in052.jpg'><img width=\"400\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/in052.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-2-990\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-2-990'>\n\t\t\t\tThe focus of <em>nangiarkuttu<\/em> is on <em>abhinaya<\/em> mime acting <span>Jukka O. Miettinen<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><br style=\"clear: both\" \/>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>In many respects <i>nangiarkuttu<\/i> is related to <i>kutiyattam<\/i>, in which the Nangiar actresses take the female roles. The traditions are clearly related in their acting technique, make-up, and costuming. <i>Nangiarkuttu,<\/i> however, is a solo form, in which a single actress both acts as the mimetic narrator and assumes all the roles of the story. One could indeed talk about the art of \u201cmono acting\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>On the floor of the stage, on the actress\u2019s right hand side, sits a female singer who sings the <i>slokas<\/i> or verses, which the actor then gesticulates. The whole process of enacting the story focuses on the combination of hand gestures and the facial, particularly eye, expression.<\/p>\n<p>As is often the case in <i>kutiyattam<\/i>, and also in <i>nangiarkuttu<\/i>, the actor frequently sits on a wooden stool facing the big oil lamp, the focal point of actions and originally the only source of light for the performance. Behind the small stage sits the drummer, who plays <i>mizhavu<\/i>, the large drum made of thin plates of copper. It is the chief musical instrument of <i>nangiarkuttu<\/i> in addition to the cymbals played by the singer.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<style type=\"text\/css\">\n\t\t\t#gallery-3 {\n\t\t\t\tmargin: auto;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-3 .gallery-item {\n\t\t\t\tfloat: left;\n\t\t\t\tmargin-top: 10px;\n\t\t\t\ttext-align: center;\n\t\t\t\twidth: 20%;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-3 img {\n\t\t\t\tborder: 2px solid #cfcfcf;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-3 .gallery-caption {\n\t\t\t\tmargin-left: 0;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\/* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes\/media.php *\/\n\t\t<\/style>\n\t\t<div id='gallery-3' class='gallery galleryid-291 gallery-columns-5 gallery-size-full'><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/in053.jpg'><img width=\"400\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/in053.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-3-991\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-3-991'>\n\t\t\t\tThe headgear, surrounded by a <em>naga<\/em> snake, refers to the mother goddess Bhagavati <span>Jukka O. Miettinen<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl>\n\t\t\t<br style='clear: both' \/>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>The costume consists of a wide skirt-like lower garment and a red blouse. The high, red headgear is surrounded by a gold-coloured <i>naga<\/i> or snake motif. With its ochre base the make-up bears similarities to the make-up of the female characters in <i>kutiyattam<\/i> and the <i>minukku<\/i> characters of <i>kathakali<\/i>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nangiarkuttu (also nangiar koothu) is a one-woman type of ritual theatre, originally performed in the temple theatres in Kerala. Just like kutiyattam and kathakali, it concentrates on mimetic abhinaya acting. Traditionally the stories cover the life cycle of the god Krishna. It is performed by Nangiars, women of the Nambiar families, while the accompanying music [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2392,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[13],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291"}],"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=291"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3136,"href":"https:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291\/revisions\/3136"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2392"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disco.teak.fi\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}