Commemorating the 111th birth anniversary of Rukmini Devi Arundale, Kalakshetra staged Kannappar Kuravanji on Thursday. With music composition by Papanasam Sivan and choreographed by Arundale, it was a visual treat to witness the dance drama that deals about a hunter (Thinnappar), who turns a saint with the grace of lord Shiva.
Set against a forest backdrop, the audiences were exposed to both folk and classical music and dance. Interspersed with colourful costumes in the hues of red, yellow and bright orange, we were introduced to the scene where Nagaraja, a tribal king and his wife perform a ‘korvai’.
After this, a soothsayer (Malayala Bhagavathi) joins the scene. It was interesting to observe the way she performed a pooja with sozhis and the tribals grabbed eyeballs with their bright costumes and accessories.
Now comes the story. Nagaraja sends his son (Thinappar) to the forest. Armed by a group of soldiers, he goes the forest to kill wild animals. During the hunt, he goes to the top of the Kalahasti hill where lord Shiva resides.
Thinappar starts losing himself worshipping the lord (Shivalinga), washing it with water spouted from his mouth, besides offering the lord meat pieces from the boar he had hunted.
The Brahmin priest bemoans that the sanctity of the temple has been lost shocked, seeing those pieces of meat lying around the linga. Then, he’s soon made to realise that lord Shiva isn’t bothered by what constitutes the prasadam (meat pieces) as it was filled with complete devotion and love.
The next day, Thinnappar finds the lord’s eye (in the linga) to be bleeding. So, he gouges out his own. Lord Shiva manifests and stops him when he prepares to remove the other eye and christens him with the name ‘Kannappar’.
The orchestra led by Hariprasad on vocals, whose powerful diction and melody added substance to the drama and the contribution of other artistes like Jyotsna Menon on nattuvangam are worth mentioning.
The characters occasionally spoke Tamil, interspersed with loud drums, and the rhythm of cymbals and the production was well-etched out.
The dancers executed their movements with perfect co-ordination. T Sivananthan, founder and Senior Partner of Sivanandh & Associates Law, inaugurated the festival by lighting the lamp. Former Chief Election Commissioner Gopalaswami, chairman of Kalakshetra and director-danseuse Priyadarsini Govind were present.
