THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: As the girls moved around rhythmically beating the sticks they held in their hands, the mood was upbeat.
Attired in bright, colourful traditional ‘pattupavadai’ and blouse, wearing netti chutti, pathakkam, mekhala, bangles, anklets, ring, jhumkas and with mound of flowers on their plaited hair, the girls looked absolutely adorable.
We were with this gang from Sastha Kovil Street near Vazhappally junction, close to Sree Padmanabha Swamy Temple, to enjoy ‘kolattam’, a dance form synonymous with the month of Karkkidakam for the Tamil community.
During this month (also referred to as ‘Aadi’), the evenings of Tuesdays and Fridays are set apart for ‘kolattam’. The girls, those who have not attained puberty, look forward to learn the steps and perform at temples or households.
However, the situation has changed for the worse.
The interest is waning, since the young girls have got busy with studies, tuitions, television and other modes of entertainment. Only few ‘agraharams’ in the city are religiously holding fast to this tradition and even there the number of girls turning up are coming down.
“When I was young, we girls waited for the ‘Aadi’ month. Once we were back from school, we hurriedly changed into the traditional dress, got together at a particular place and would proceed to the temple where we were to stage ‘kolattam’. Now, I miss all those times. Sadly, now only very few girls turn up to be part of this,’’ says Anusha, an engineering student who lives along Sastha Kovil street.
And Anusha had the best of her training from her paternal grandmother, Ambujam, a veteran in teaching ‘kolattam’. When we caught up with this skinny, ailing pious lady at her house, she sprang up at the very mention of ‘kolattam’. “It is something very devotional. I used to go around taking the girls to almost all the temples. There used to be some 50 girls at a time. Once I took 70 girls to Mukkolakkal temple,’’ says an enthusiastic 84-year-old Ambuja ‘maami’, as she is fondly called.
Breaking into a ‘kolattam’ song, she said, “I am still ready to teach the girls, if somebody can take me in an auto.’’ Her daughter-in-law Geetha added, “She is very passionate about ‘kolattam’ and has trained innumerable number of students. Every year temples would place bookings with her and she would take these girls there.
Very disciplined and punctual, she used to be in such a rush that she would sometimes forget to lock the house. And, on the last Aadi Tuesday, we would prepare a feast for all these girls. But, since she fell ill everything has stopped. And the girls have got busy with a lot of other things.’’
The songs are basically about Devi. They also dance to the songs about Lord Muruga and Lord Krishna. Lakshmi of Kumarapuram who calls herself a disciple of Ambuja maami said, “You won’t find anybody as dedicated as her when it comes to ‘kolattam’,’’ she said, adding, ‘Pinnal kolattam’ has been a special item of Ambuja maami.’’
‘Pinnal kolattam’ uses colourful ropes. While one end of each of the rope is tied to a pole, the other end will be held by each dancer and on that end a stick will be tied. In the other hand, the dancers (an even number of them) hold the other stick. As the song begins, they beat the stick and cross each other.
As the dance progresses, the ropes intertwine to form a colourful braid. Once the entire length forms a braid, they reverse the dance steps, thus opening the braid. The dancers have to be careful about the steps, otherwise, it will end up a mess.
Another individual who devoted herself to the dance form many years back is A R Saraswathi, a retired employee of VSSC. It was after her retirement 10 years back that Saraswathi took to teaching ‘kolattam’.
What is interesting about her is that she has composed her own songs. A trained singer, she has come up with her own lyrics, beautifully blending portions from famous keerthanas, shlokas and even from poems of Bharatiyar. Besides ‘kolattam’, the girls have been taught ‘kummi’ also.
“Saraswathi maami has spent a lot of money and time on us. She used to buy accessories for us and would do anything to make the whole thing a grand affair,’’ Anusha says. She even brought special sticks, brightly painted and decorated with bells attached to the ends, from Gujarat.
“I want the future generation to know about our culture. I am very satisfied teaching them Ramayana, Mahabharata and shlokas because today’s generation is totally ignorant about all that,’’ Saraswathi says. Shedding more light on the concept of ‘kolattam’, she says, “Every little girl is considered ‘Balatripurasundari’, ie the form which Goddess took to finish off the demons, till the age of 8 or 9. These young girls are dressed up in their best like the Devi. Besides temples, these girls perform at households on special invitation. They are often given special rewards or gifts.’’
She even used to invite these girls and their parents for a performance at her home and prepared food for all of them.
Quite unhappy with the lukewarm attitude of the present generation to ‘kolattam’, she is also saddened by the fact that she would be shifting to Chennai from her house at Sreevarahom with her husband next year.
There is indeed a silver lining. A handful of ‘kolattam’ groups are there in the city, like those in Valiyasala, Chinnasala and Karamana. Jaya has been training the girls in Valiyasala for the last few years.
On Tuesday evening, they staged a grand ‘kolattam’, it being the last Tuesday of this Karkkidakam.
m_athira@expressbuzz.com