How Clay Gives Eye-Sight To A Lofty Line-up of Classical Actor-Dancers

The terracotta sculpture appears red, which is the colour of the earth in this semi-hilly stretch of God바카라�s Own Country. Together, they seem to silently proclaim an organic link between Kathakali and the classical ballet바카라�s evolution in north-central Kerala바카라�s erstwhile Valluvanad fiefdom.

Last evening, one of the state바카라�s revered dancer-actors virtually got a fresh lease of life when a terracotta work of the maestro바카라�s bust was unveiled in his native west Palakkad belt. As the baked-clay face of Vazhenkada Kunchu Nair was unveiled under the aegis of an organisation named after him, culture buffs of the new age now get a chance to effectively take a close look of the 20th-century Kathakali artiste celebrated for his thorough character enrichment in the feudal-era art-form.

Vazhenkada Kunchu Nair 

The weekend gathering at the Vazhenkada Kunchu Nair Memorial Trust saw nonagenarian Artiste Namboodiri gracing the occasion and lauding the efforts of Sadanam K. Harikumaran in lining up in recent times half-a-dozen sculptures of top cultural figures of yore. Incidentally, it was Namboodiri (now 92, his name is K.M. Vasudevan) who unveiled Harikumaran바카라�s first statue of its kind almost a quarter century ago. That was at Sadanam Kathakali Akademi east of Ottapalam in 1994, when a much younger Harikumaran came up with a terracotta face of Pattikamthodi Ravunni Menon (1880-1948), who strengthened and refurbished the dance-drama바카라�s Kalluvazhi style that now the most popular of all variations.

Till date, Harikumaran has come up with another six contemporary-Kerala cultural personalities바카라�five of them associated with Kathakali. It was after a break of one-and-a-half decades, though, that Harikumaran바카라�a PhD holder who is dancer-choreographer, lyricist-musician-composer, story-play writer and painter-sculptor바카라�completed his second bust in what went on to become a series on Pattikamthodi disciples.

That was of Keezhpadam Kumaran Nair, who was Harikumaran바카라�s own Kathakali guru. Then there have been the busts of Kalamandalam Ramankutty Nair and Thekkinkatti Ramunni Nair, who, too have been associated with Sadanam at riverside Peroor village. Plus, the 1953-opened institution바카라�s (late) founder K. Kumaran, who is Harikumaran바카라�s father. Also Harikumaran바카라�s mother Sarojini Amma, belonging to the family of cultural activist Kakkad Karanavappad (or Manakkulam Valiya Kunjunni Raja) who was instrumental in setting up Kalamandalam, the state바카라�s premier performing-arts institute (in 1930). Not to be forgotten, Harikumaran recently did a sculpture of music teacher C.S. Krishna Iyer, a senior Carnatic musician who had groomed Palakkad K.V. Narayanaswamy among other top-rankers. And, the latest, of Kunchu Nair.

바카라�When my Pattikkamthodi statue was unveiled, three of his disciples on the occasion bowed before it바카라�and paid homage,바카라� recalls Harikumaran, principal of Sadanam (also his alma mater). 바카라�They could easily identify it with their guru. That they prostrated before the statue is proof to my work바카라�s success.바카라�

Pattikamthodi Ravunni Menon 

 Prime among Pattikkamthodi바카라�s pupils was Kumaran Nair (1916-2007), who shaped up Harikumaran바카라�s talent as an actor-dancer. 바카라�My master had his bad times, too,바카라� trails off the student, now 60, whose trysts with terracotta sculptures began three decades ago when he was a lecturer (for four years) in the Kathakali department of Santiniketan in West Bengal. 바카라�Ashan once took me out on a pilgrimage to Travancore temples. At some shrines, below the ceremonial flag-post facing the sanctorum, he바카라�d dance bare-chested before the idol. Those days, I wasn바카라�t mature enough to sense what all troubled him.바카라� Today (May 25), Kumaran Nair바카라�s Vellinezhi village is hosting a commemoration studded with a night-long Kathakali show.

Keezhpadam Kumaran Nair 

 As for Ramankutty Nair (1925-2013, also from Vellinezhi), he had his younger and older days closely associated with Sadanam: first as a tutor and the second stint as Sadanam chairman (after his 1984 retirement as principal of Kalamandalam at Cheruthuruthy near Shoranur). 바카라�Towards the evening of his life,바카라� recalls Harikumaran about the Padma Bhushan awardee whose 93rd birth anniversary fell this May 25, 바카라�there developed a very close relation between us. It was spiritual experience to see his celebrated toughness eventually mellow down to childlike innocence.바카라�

Kalamandalam Ramankutty Nair 

Ravunni Nair, who taught at Sadanam in the 1950s to mould disciples like Krishnankutty, Ramankutty and Balakrishnan, never won the recognition he deserved, rues Harukumaran, who has authored a dozen Kathakali story-plays (also focusing on tragic Purana heroes like Karna and Abhimanyu). At an aristocratic mansion in scenic Vellinezhi that is the homestead of Kalluvazhi-style Kathakali, its privileged-caste owners ordered to hold the curtain amid a Ravunni Nair performance so as to hasten the entry of a star actor who they preferred to watch that night, he recalls.

Thekkinkattil Ravunni Nair

Kalpathy off Palakkad is to where Harikumaran used to ride his bike 30 km eastward from his Pathiripala residence to take advanced lessons in Carnatic vocal under Krishna Iyer (1916-99, an alumnus of Annamalai Music College). 바카라�Great gurus teach you not just their art; they give you a vision about life,바카라� he says, cryptically, equalling reminiscing the struggles of his parents in building up Sadanam in nascent India.

C.S. Krishna Iyer 

Kumaran, Harikumar바카라�s father who died in 2005 as an octogenarian, was a freedom fighter. 바카라�At Santiniketan where I joined as a teacher in 1989,바카라� recalls Harikumaran, famed painter 바카라�K.G. Subrahmanyan (1924-2016) realised to his joy that I was a son of his jail-mate during the Independence movement.바카라� At Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore바카라�s institution, quite a few fellow masters and students encouraged Harikumaran바카라�s talent as a sculptor.

K. Kumaran's sculpture, by son Sadnam K. Harikumaran

바카라�Overall, I owe my life to a lot of geniuses,바카라� he says today, a night after the unveiling of the statue of Kunchu Nair (1909-81), with whom he had performed on stage in minor roles and whose performances form part of his childhood Kathakali memories. 바카라�At last evening바카라�s function, Kunchu ashan바카라�s family told me that they felt their father figure having got a rebirth. One son even said he even had a 바카라�conversation바카라� with his father바카라�s statue.바카라�

The eyes form key to the looks of a person. More so for an artiste of Kathakali that relies heavily on facial expressions. 바카라�With the Kunchu Nair bust, I could get it done in just a fortnight,바카라� says Harikumaran. 바카라�Sometimes it clicks much quickly than we anticipate.바카라�

Photos By: BIJU THEKKUMPAT, SYAMALAN P.V.