KOCHI: At one corner of Government Girls VHSS Manacaud, Aromal B S from Chinmaya Vidyalaya in the city rendered a well modulated sanskrit song ‘Sarvensaam no janani bharat’. Like him there were 13 others from other districts. It was a quiet affair as usual at the venue where the Sanskrit Arts festival is underway as compared to the venues where other high profile events are happening elsewhere in the city as part of the State Arts Festival. The 32nd edition of Sanskrit art festival began the other day with ‘Chambu Prabhashanam’ which involves story telling in prose and poem. Breaking the popular notion that Sanskrit events involve mythological themes, students choose the story of Desdemona, a character in William Shakespeare’s play Othello, bitter experiences of untouchability faced by B R Ambedkar etc. Even when the stories that were told were on contemporaries, the audience shied away from Sanskrit events, said Sreekumar, a Sanskrit teacher of Karakonam PPM school. There was also an option to include orchestra in ‘Chambu Prabhashanam’ but most students do not opt for the luxury. According to Sreekumar things can change if more people started attending the event and give it the necessary encouragement.
The participants should be given their share of credit since they have given a contemporary touch to even poetry recitation, said Sreekumar. According to him similarities of Sanskrit pronunciation with that of Malayalam makes it easier. Parents who came along with the participating children said that Sanskrit programs should be hosted along with other popular events if the organisers are keen on promoting the classic language. There are 17 Sanskrit events and most of it, except Koodiyattom, is being held at Government Girls’ VHSS Manacaud. On Thursday competition of ‘Pathakam’, a temple art will be performed at the venue at 11 am.
What is Pathakam?
Pathakam involves a performer, wearing a predominantly red silk dress and cap, doing dramatic exposition of an incident. It is similar to Chakyarkoothu in technical content and body movements but with gestures of devotion.
Performers also wears heavy garments around the neck and applies thick lines of sandal paste across their forehead. Organisers hope that more heads will turn up to watch the performance.
Vying for space
Crowd at the venue where the Sanskrit Arts festival is less compared to other venues
32nd edition of Sanskrit art festival began with ‘Chambu Prabhashanam’
Chambu Prabhashanam involves story telling in prose and poem
Breaking tradition participants performed on the contemporary themes rather than the ancient ones
They told the story of Desdemona from William Shakespeare’s play Othello, bitter experiences of untouchability faced by B R Ambedkar
There are 17 Sanskrit events and most of it, except Koodiyattom, is being held at Government Girls’ VHSS Manacaud
On Thursday competition of ‘Pathakam’, a temple art will be performed at the venue at 11 am