KOCHI: He is only eight-years old, but young Vasudevan Marar is creating fans wherever he goes. A Class III student at St Joseph Public School in Pattanakkad, Vasudevan Marar has been a familiar face at the temple festivals in Alappuzha district. On Saturday, he hogged the limelight at a percussion ensemble held at the reception organised for Vaishnavite saint Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Goswami Maharaj at Ravipuram Sri Krishna Temple.
Son of percussion artist Dileep Kumar, popularly known as Valiya Kuttappan Marar of Thiruvizha, he joins the Panchari Melam performance by a team led by his father. He has performed along with his father’s team at famous temples in Alappuzha district including Mararikulam, Varanad, Cherthala, Thiruvizha and Chettikulangara. Last year he had participated in a percussion ensemble led by Mattannur Sankarankutty Marar at Mararikulam.
“Vasudevan had an affinity for chenda from childhood and used to accompany our troupe to temples where we perform. He started learning chenda at the age of three and can now perform Panchari up to four stages. Besides he is learning Thimila and Sopana sangeetham. He loves temple festivals, elephants and melam. He can identify almost all celebrity elephants and is a great fan of Thetchikottukavu Ramachandran. He loves travelling and loves to travel in tourist buses,” said Pradeep Kumar, his uncle.
Vasudevan hails from a family of percussion artists and his grandfather Eswaran Bhaskara Marar was a well-known percussion artist. His father Dileep Kumar and uncle Pradeep Kumar have performed at Thrissur Pooram alongside Kizhakkoottu Aniyan Marar for Thiruvambady Devaswom. Dileep Kumar is an employee at Kanichukulangara Karthyayani Devi Temple and their house is located close to Thiruvizha Mahadeva Temple.
“He used to accompany our troupe for temple festivals during the summer vacation. Now, as the school has reopened he is participating in the melam only on holidays,” said Pradeep Kumar.