THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The third death anniversary of Kathakali maestro Kalamandalam Rajan will be observed on Saturday at Kalikkotta Palace, Tripunithura. The day-and-night programme will offer rich tribute to the unmatched hero of Kathakali. The programme includes a remembrance session, distribution of awards and a night-long performance of Kathakali by eminent artistes. Madavur Vasudevan Nair will receive this year’s award instituted in the memory of Kalamandalam Rajan.
Born in Ezhikkara in North Parur in 1931, Rajan joined Kerala Kalamandalam in 1955 where he was a disciple of a host of maestros such as Kalamandalam Padmanabhan Nair, Kalamandalam Ramankutty Nair, Keezhpadam Kumaran Nair and Vazhenkada Kunju Nair.
After completing his stint in Kalamandalam in 1963, Rajan joined RLV College of Music and Institute of Fine Arts, Tripunithura, as an assistant dance master in kathakali. In 1972, he became the head of the Fine Arts section.
He lived in Tripunithura and worked exclusively for the promotion of the art form for about three-and-a-half decades. He had fine tuned his art from the legendary artiste Kalamandalam Krishnan Nair and later both Krishnan Nair and Rajan worked together at R L V and performed several combination roles with charisma and character.
Famed for his ‘Kathi and Pacha’ roles Rajan was a popular artiste as well as a good teacher too. The most distinguished factor of his acting is that of the maturity and elegance that the character needs. A reputed kathakali artists were products of R L V College during his period. R L V Radhakrishnan and Evoor Rajendran Pillai are the notable among them.
In 1986, he retired from service and was later appointed by the state government as a visiting professor in the same institution.
He had performed extensively in India and foreign countries, including Germany, England and Tunisia and had participated in the kathakali festival conducted by the Kendra Sangeetha Natak Akademi in New Delhi in 1993.
Rajan had also won several prestigious awards, including the Kerala Kalamandalam Award, Gurupooja Award instituted by the Kerala Sangeet Natak Akademi and Pattikkamthodi Ravunni Menon Memorial Kathakali Award. A trust formed in the name of the master is organising the one-day programme.