Undiscovered Talant

 Late Narayanan Nair- a talanted artist of Tholpavakoothu

a life dedicated to farming and TOLPAVA, the unique shadow puppet play of Kerala

Born 26-09-1926, introduced to Tolpava, the ancient and more than 300 years old shadow puppet theatre of Kerala by his father Panchu Nair and trained in the art form in Gurukulam style since the age of 12, he is now the only surviving master of Tolpava to recite about 3000 verses of the complete Tamil epic Kamba Ramayana with its 6 book's Bala Kandam, Ayodha Kandam, Aranya Kandam, Kiskindha Kandam, Sundara Kandam, Yuddha Kandam'..................................

Festivals where Narayanan Nair is the chief of the Tolpava Koothu:
Kavu	Location	days	Malayalam month
Puthanalikal Kavu Kayiliyad Kavu Kadaparambathu Kavu Mulayam Kavu Ariyan Kavu	Cherpelassery Kayiliyad Ongaloor Kulukallur Kavalappara	28 21 41 21 21	Makaram/Kumbham Kumbham Medam Medam Medam/Meenam

                                                              "I had been very touched to watch him during the last festival at Aryankavu, Kavalappara, reciting with his distinguish and sonorous voice verses of the Kamba Ramayana from 10 pm onw2ards, 21 days every night, and climbing down on his own in the wee morning hours between 6 and 7 am and in the fragility of his age to pay at last his reverence to the deity." 

                                                                                        -- Prem Manasvi                                                           

                                                                                                      Written by Prem Manasvi

                                                                                 manasvi@mykerala.net

About

Tholpavakoothu

Tholpavakoothu is a form of shadow puppetry that is practiced in Kerala, India. It is performed using leather puppets as a ritual dedicated to Bhadrakali and is performed in Devi temples in specially built theaters called koothumadams. This art form is especially popular in the Palakkad, Thrissur and Malappuram districts of Kerala.

Play

Tholpavakoothu is a compound word of three Malayalam terms, thol, meaning leather, pava, meaning doll, and koothu, meaning the play. It is believed to have originated in the ninth century AD and uses Kamba Ramayana as its basic text. The performance language uses Tamil, Sanskrit and Malayalam words. Like Mudiyettu and Patayani, Tholpavakoothu is also an art form that is dedicated to Bhadrakali. According to legend, Tholpavakoothu was performed at the request of Bhadrakali who could not witness Ravana's killing as she was fighting the demon Darika. Thus when it is performed in temples, an idol of the Goddess is usually placed on a pedestal in front of the arena where it is staged.

Tholpavakoothu, like many traditional art forms, has been facing the threat of extinction due to the arrival of alternate platforms of entertainment such as television and cinema and due to changing cultural values. The younger generation have increasingly failed to take up this art form as it is highly demanding and does not pay much. The audience for these shows have dwindled even in rural Kerala. To cope up with these social changes, the duration of many performances have been drastically reduced.

Thematically, puppeteers have begun to introduce contemporary and secular themes to appeal to the youth. Themes such as ragging, communal amity and stories from India's freedom struggle have been featured in recent years. Performances are no longer confined only to temples but are also held in secular venues such as colleges and at the International Film Festival of Kerala.

-slightly adapted from Wikipedia