The Royal Aura of Kathakali to fill the Night

The valour and royal aura of Kathi vesham (knife) is to fill the night and the minds of Kathakali lovers on August 1^st 2009. Showcasing of a specific character type like Kathi or Thadi is now a new drift in the repertoire of Kathakali, and the show titled Rajasam organised by Viewfinder Cultural Group at Tripunithura, falls in line of this new trend.

The Kathi Vesham in Kathakali is to represent villainous and evil male characters and is more challenging and more demanding from the performer. Performance of Kathi is highly structured one where the actor needs stamina to go through the gruelling performance.

Characters of high birth who have an evil streak, such as the Asura king Ravana, are also given a similar green make-up, slashed with red marks on the cheeks. These characters are arrogant and evil but have a high degree of valour. Characters representing the Rajo Guna (egoistic qualities) like Ravana, Duryodhana, Keechaka, Narakasura, Sisupala come in this category.

The unique event Rajasam gives a chance for the Kathakali enthusiast to see the wide range of characters and dramatic situations from Kathakali as well as chance to see the performance 10 best Kathi performers. !0 different segments from different plays are selected that contain important sequencing the charm and characteristic of Kathi are performed one after another. Each episode will be one hour in duration.

The maestro performer and exponent of Kathivesham Sri Kalamandalam Ramankutty Nair is honoured in the brief inaugural function.

The performance starts with none other than Padmasree Kalamandalam Gopi portraying the love-torn Duryodhana from Utharaswayamvaram. Madavoor Vasudevan Nair follows with Bana from Banayudham who challenges Siva for a combat. Then is the mighty and heroic Ravana from Ravanolbhava essayed by Kalamandalam Balasubrahmanian. In the next sequence a totally different Ravana, who is immersed in the tenderness of love to his beloved Mandodari from Karthaveeryarjjuna Vijayam, is performed by Kalamandalam Sreekumar. Azhakiya Ravanan set to allure Seetha seated in Asokavanika from Thoranayudham performed by Kottakkal Chandrasekharan follows.

Keechaka trying to triumph Sirandhri with his might from Keechaka vadham enacted by Kalamandalam Pradeep, the enthusiastic Ghadolkacha at the sight of his father Bheema from Bakavadham enacted by RLV Pramod, the envious Duryodhana from Duryodhana Vadham performed by Parvathi U Menon (representing the recent female performers enacting the mighty male roles), Kottackal Nandakumaran Nair as the all powerful Ravana from Balivijayam, follows.

The night ends with the demon King Narakasura setting out angrily to fight Indra, from Narakasuravadham performed by Kottakkal Kesavan Kundalayar.

This night will turn out to be a unique event with more than 50 artists coming together in different roles and on the rich orchestra.

The event takes place at Kalikotta Palace, Tripunithura, Kerala and is organised with the cooperation of Thriputhura Kadhakali Kendram. The event starts at 6.00 pm on August 1^st 2009.