Kalyana Sougandhikam Kathakali
As the nostalgic Kathakali sounds welled into the road, we knew where to have our uber driver drop us at "Changampuzha Park". While walking towards the stage through all that music and ambience, my heart was already content. My father had found this performance from the newspaper and had initiated this plan based on interest that I had expressed in earlier visits.
"Kalyana Sougandhikam" is the story being played and initially I was at a loss trying to connect the hand gestures of "Bheema" with the story. Then a notice explaining a little more detail about the performance showed up in one of the chairs. Got a little more clarity from reading through.
Chenda and Maddalam were very impressive. There was no mystery here. Clearly, both the percussionists were crushing it and matching up with Bhima's acting. You could see the "Chenda" artist smile as he followed the actor's movements as an audience and matched them with his beats.
The least conspicuous artist on the stage was a timid looking man, who resembled a former colleague of mine, using his "chengila" to set the rhythm to the performance. Suddenly, he got into "kathakali padham" (kathakali songs) and sang so melodiously and energetically that I felt that even Yesudas himself would not be able to match the perfection of this specialized performance. All artists had "Shri Kalamandalam.." prefixed to their names and they were all living up to the respect that "Kalamandalam" evokes.
There were two singers and both performed exceptionally well. The quality of the song performances made for so much joy that I could not help tapping my feet/ swaying my head etc to the awesomeness. Another viewer in front could also be seen thoroughly immersed in the songs, swaying along with the music.
Bhima went from stage and we had Hanuman come up in a different costume. I was not able to really appreciate the acting as much for lack of sufficient preparatory knowledge. However,"Chenda", " Maddalam", the songs were all easily world class. The best of the best performing live. As people were leaving, I kept moving closer and closer to the stage and was finally sitting in the first row, about six feet from these world class artists.
We sat through to the end of the kathakali performance to about 11 pm. I have watched Kathakali mostly in my childhood. So, there was a magic to the experience from that perspective as well. I feel all ready to get into more of "Kathakali" for later India visits.
"Kalyana Sougandhikam" is the story being played and initially I was at a loss trying to connect the hand gestures of "Bheema" with the story. Then a notice explaining a little more detail about the performance showed up in one of the chairs. Got a little more clarity from reading through.
Chenda and Maddalam were very impressive. There was no mystery here. Clearly, both the percussionists were crushing it and matching up with Bhima's acting. You could see the "Chenda" artist smile as he followed the actor's movements as an audience and matched them with his beats.
The least conspicuous artist on the stage was a timid looking man, who resembled a former colleague of mine, using his "chengila" to set the rhythm to the performance. Suddenly, he got into "kathakali padham" (kathakali songs) and sang so melodiously and energetically that I felt that even Yesudas himself would not be able to match the perfection of this specialized performance. All artists had "Shri Kalamandalam.." prefixed to their names and they were all living up to the respect that "Kalamandalam" evokes.
There were two singers and both performed exceptionally well. The quality of the song performances made for so much joy that I could not help tapping my feet/ swaying my head etc to the awesomeness. Another viewer in front could also be seen thoroughly immersed in the songs, swaying along with the music.
Bhima went from stage and we had Hanuman come up in a different costume. I was not able to really appreciate the acting as much for lack of sufficient preparatory knowledge. However,"Chenda", " Maddalam", the songs were all easily world class. The best of the best performing live. As people were leaving, I kept moving closer and closer to the stage and was finally sitting in the first row, about six feet from these world class artists.
We sat through to the end of the kathakali performance to about 11 pm. I have watched Kathakali mostly in my childhood. So, there was a magic to the experience from that perspective as well. I feel all ready to get into more of "Kathakali" for later India visits.
Very good.
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