As Damayanti, minister Bindu lives kathakali dream, relives memories

THRISSUR:  Higher Education Minister R Bindu, who has been an advocate of women’s empowerment, set aside her official responsibilities on Sunday to perform kathakali as a part of 10-day festival of the Irinjalakuda Sree Koodalmanikyam temple.

Clad in traditional red and white attire and her face adorning special makeup and chutti, Bindu won the hearts of spectators with her enactment of Damayanti, the character that won her multiple accolades during her college days.

She took up the role after a decades-long break on the insistence of her guru Kalanilayam Raghavan Asan. Asan’s daughter Jayasree Gopi and C M Beena came together with Bindu for the all-woman ensemble. 

A native of Irinjalakuda, Bindu started taking kathakali classes from the age of 13. On Sunday, the one-and-a-half-hour performance was received with a round of applause at the Sangamam stage, set up outside the temple for cultural performances. Besides kathakali recitals, the ten-day festivities will include music concerts, dance performance, etc.