OTTANTHULLAL - PERFORMING ART OF KERALA INDIA

OTTANTHULLAL - PERFORMING ART OF KERALA INDIA

Among the classical performing arts of Kerala, Thullal is distinct for its simplicity of presentation, wit and humour. It follows the classical principles of Natyasasthra (a treatise on art compiled in the 2nd century B.C). Ottanthullal is the most popular among its three varieties. The other two are Seethankan and Parayan Thullal. Thullal is a solo performance combining dance and recitation. Staged during temple festivals, the performer explicates the verses through expressive gestures. Themes are based on mythologica
l stories. Humour, satire and social criticism are the hallmarks of this art form. The Thullal dancer is accompanied by a singer who repeats the verses. The orchestra consists of the Mridangam or the Thoppi Maddalam and a pair of cymbals,Edakka.
Thullal was introduced in the 18th century by the famous Malayalam poet Kunchan Nambiar (1705 - 1770). A satirist, he is the man who brought literary wit and humour within the ken of common man. His innovative satiric art form Ottanthullal reflected his deep sense of social responsibility. Witticism and anecdotes from the life of this genius have become part of the lores and legends of the State.
There is an interesting story about the origin of the Thullal. Nambiar, who used to play the Mizhavu, (a percussion instrument) during Koothu performances, was once caught napping during a performance and the annoyed Koothu player sent him off the stage. To get his own back, the insulted young
man created the new art form over night and presented it himself the next evening. The audience were thrilled. However this story has been debated by scholar ever since, who believe that it is impractical to create a new art form Thullal overnight.The first performance made by him about the story KALYANA SOUGADHIKAM that was the starting of thullal, is performed at Ambalapuzha temble.
Amoung the three ottanthullal is most beutyfull,because its song and dancing steps were very speedy and impressive.Nambyar used SANDESHHARAN which meance OTTAN in many parts of his story.the orginal name of ottanthullal is OTTAM THULLAL meance very speedy story telling .The make up, though simple, is very much akin to that of Kathakali. The actor wears a long tape of white and red coloured clothes looped around the waist-string to form a knee-long skirt. The chest-piece is adorned by various coloured beads, glass and tinsel, and other ornaments. The face is painted green, the lips, red and the eyes emphasised with black paint. The headgear is colourful and richly decorated

kunchan nabyar the malayalam poet sri Kalakkaththu Kunjan Nambyar leaved in the period 1705 to 1770 BC. He had spent his early childhood at killikkurussimangakam,kerala, his boyhood at kudamaloor his youth at Ambalapuzha. In 1748 he moved to Thiruvanathapuram, first to the court of Marthanda Varma and later to the court of Karthika Thirunal Rama Varma. He had already written several of his works before leaving Ambalapuzha. He was the master of satirist poetry. His chief contribution of is the invention and popularization of a new performing art known as Thullal. The world literally means "dance", but under this name Nambiar devised a new style of verse narration with a little background music and dance-like swinging movement to wean the people away from theChakkiyar Kooth, which was the form popular till then. He was to use pure Malayalam as opposed to the stylized andSanskritized language of Koothu. He also adopted many elements from Padayani certain other folk arts. It is reasonable to assume that he was himself a performer. The first hand knowledge of the various thalas and ragas and even the practices of drummers is a pre-requisite for the writing of a Thullal. Kunchan Nambiar possessed this in abundance. Each Thullal composition consists of a Puranic tale r etoled in simple rhythmic verse, fit for loud recitation before an audience. There are three kinds of Thullal distinguished on the basis of the performer's costume and the style of rendering, viz., Ottan, Seethankan and Parayan. Dravidian metres are used throughout although there is noth ing to prevent the insertion of a quatrain in a Sanskrit metre. Nambiar also developed new metres (e .g. Vaythari metres) based on the vocal notation for various talas. The language also is predominantly Malayalam with a large admixture of colloquial and dialectal forms. Humour is invariable the dominant mood: other bhavas are brought in for variety and to suit the situation. One of the oft-quoted lines from his poems is "Nokkeda nammude margey kidakkunna markada neeyangu maari kidakkada". (In Nambiar's retelling of theMahabharatham,Bhima tellsHanumam to move from his way, by saying "Go lie elsewhere, you monkey").