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It was believed that Kathakali was conceived from
Krishnanaattam, the dance drama on the life and
activities of Lord Krishna created by the Zamorin of
Calicut. The reason for that is said as follows:
Once Kottarakkara Thampuran the Raja of Kottarakkara
who was attracted by the tone of the Krishnanaattam
requested the Zamorin for the loan of a troupe of
performers on the eve of some festive occasion.
Due to internal feuds and political rivalry between
them, the Zamorin refused to send the performers and
insulted with the remarks: ”It is useless to depute
the troupe, because Kottarakkara Thespian’s court
would be neither able to appreciate nor understand
anything of the highly artistic Krishnanaattam and
the high standard of the performance".
Here the political rivalry between the two
chieftains leads to the art rivalry. So Kottarakkara
Thampuran initiated a parallel mode of
entertainment, which he called Raamanaattam which
was later transformed into Aattakatha, and yet later
into Kathakali while Krishnanaattam based on the
story of Lord Krishna's activities, Raamanaattam
described the complete story of Lord Raman.
Krishnanaattam was written in Sanskrit, "the
language of the Gods".
Raamanaattam was in Malayalam, the language of the
people. By the end of the seventeenth century, the
finished product of Raamanaattam was placed before
the world under the title Kathakali. The costume of
Kathakali has been much influenced by Chaakkyaar
koothu and Koodiyattam the two older forms of
dramatic representations in vogue in Kerala. The
history of their origins dates back to the period of
Perumals i.e. much earlier to the introduction of
Raamanaattam. The whole scheme of Abhinaya (acting)
and the use of Mudras (hand poses) and gestures were
bodily adopted in
Kathakali from them in addition to its borrowing and
refinement of facial make-up and costume. The use of
colour, costume, and make-up present a unique show
and create an unearthly atmosphere. Kathakali became
more attractive and popular than the Chaakkyaar
koothu and Koodiyattam. Moreover ,its performance
was not restricted to the precincts of the temples.
Kathakali had a golden period between 1665 AD and
1743 AD. Remarkable contributions were also made by
Kaartika Thirunal, the king of Travancore, to
Kerala's literature, art and dance. His efforts were
also directed to popularising Kathakali among the
people. He instituted a tradition of arranging
Kathakali performances at various festivals and on
the Navaratri night.
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