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Source: The Hindu

 

Dancing for the gods

 

 

V. KALADHARAN

 

 

K. Velayudhan Nair, recipient of Keraleeya Nritta-Natya Puraskaram, talks about

his art form, Krishnanattam, and its practice.

 

 

 

Devoted to dance: K. Velayudhan Nair

 

 

As part of the cultural renaissance in Kerala, traditional performing arts, in

general, moved out of the temple precincts to the public sphere in the early

decades of the last century. Perhaps one of the sole exceptions to this

transformation was

Krishnanattam.

From the spacious courtyard of the Zamorin of Calicut, it got transferred to the

confines of the Guruvayoor Temple. However, the aesthetic breadth of

Krishnanattam shrank in the process. Devotion and ritualistic codes gained

preponderance. Several outstanding artistes found it difficult to endorse or

comprehend such a transition.

One among them is K. Velayudhan Nair, recipient of Keraleeya Nritta-Natya

Puraskaram, the State Government & #8217;s highest honour for the best dancer in

traditional arts.

 

Heritage

 

 

 

Velayudhan Nair hails from Kuthanoor village in Palakkad, home to a number of

families dedicated to the learning and performing of Krishnanattam. True to this

family tradition, at the age of seven, he joined the Krishnanattam Kalari in the

court of the Zamorin of Calicut. Trained under venerable gurus like Palackal

Achutan Nair, Ravunnikartha and Karunakaran Nair, Velayudhan Nair soon became a

promising artiste. He was with the troupe for nearly two decades before being

appointed instructor of Krishnanattam at Guruvayoor Devaswom.

Prolonged years of training helped Velayudhan Nair get rid of prejudices in the

portrayal of different characters in Krishnanattam. He has maintained a certain

neutrality in his approach to and involvement in the art.

& #8220;I have no particular inclination towards any one character in

Krishnanattam. Be it Balarama in & #8216;Vividavadhom, & #8217; king Kamsa, king

Narakasura with the facial mask or Udhava, I enact each of them as sincerely as

I can. My instinct and training haven & #8217;t deceived me so far. & #8221;

Yet his Udhava taking leave of Lord Krishna remains etched in the minds of the

devotee-cum-spectator. The devotion and anguish of Udhava soar to a spiritual

level when Velayudhan Nair dons the role. For a Krishnattam artiste, he

believes, devotion is the supreme form of self-expression.

& #8216;Aattam & #8217; (dance) is the principal segment of this performance

tradition. Natya is almost always secondary in the plays staged in

Krishnanattam, from Krishna & #8217;s avataram to swargarohanam. There is little

scope for padardhabhinaya.

Has this hampered the growth of Krishnanattam compared to that of Kathakali and

Mohiniyattam? Velayudhan Nair emphatically replies: & #8220;No. The dance in

Krishnanattam has won the admiration of even renowned Kathakali artistes such as

Kavungal Chathunni Panickar and Kalamandalam Padmanabhan Nair. The grace of

dances like that of & #8216;mullappoochoodal & #8217; in Rasakreeda has had a

profound impact on rasikas. & #8221;

While Velayudhan Nair supports the refinements brought to the music of

Krishnanattam by the late Kathakali vocalist Kalamandalam Neelakandan Nambeesan,

he is apprehensive of further reforms in the art. Yet he broadly agrees that

present-day performances have a higher degree of synchronisation between visuals

and the music than those in the past.

 

Duration of training

 

 

 

When Krishnanattam was shifted from the court of the Zamorin to Guruvayur

Devaswom, the duration of physical and mental training of the artist came down

from six months to 41 days. This, Velayudhan Nair laments, has affected the

quality of the art and the artistes. However, in recent years the Krishnanattam

troupe has gained a number of stages outside the Guruvayoor temple. & #8220;A

welcome sign indeed, & #8221; says Nair.

Being a highly Sanskritised lyrical composition, Krishnanattam is not easily

comprehensible to the practitioners let alone the audience. Will it survive the

test of time?

The maestro of Krishnattam fell silent for a while. Then he answered: & #8220;As

long as Guruvayur Devaswom survives, Krishnanattam will have a safe existence.

But its artistic merits are bound to suffer for the audience is getting thinner

and thinner day by day. & #8221;

As one who donned the roles of gods and demons hundreds of times over half a

century, Velayudhan Nair & #8217;s anxiety about the future of the art that has

made him what he is now is reasonable. In spite of a sense of fulfilment at a

personal level, one can read from his face the enduring uneasiness of a

Krishnattam artiste.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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