To cater to tourists keen to explore the cultural heritage and nuances of Kerala’s performing arts, a new facility has opened in Fort Kochi — the Kalamandalam Cultural Outreach Centre.
It’s not a new venue per say. This new centre, opened by Minister for Culture Saji Cherian on Monday, sits on the same venue as the Folklore Cultural Theatre. The Kerala Kalamandalam, a deemed-to-be-university of art and culture, has acquired the facility on rent and has refurbished it utilising CSR funds provided by Cochin Shipyard.
“Many tourists who reach Fort Kochi also arrive in Cheruthuruthi (Thrissur) to learn more about traditional art forms from the Kalamandalam. That is why we thought of opening a centre in Fort Kochi itself — for the convenience of the tourists,” says Kalamandalam vice-chancellor B Ananthakrishnan.
The new centre is expected to guide tourists to understand the Indian myths through elaborate aesthetics, intricate hand gestures, vibrant colours and rhythmic foot work. To facilitate this, regular performances are planned, including the staging of abridged versions of popular kathakali plays.
“Kathakali artists who have completed studies at Kalamandalam will perform regularly at the Fort Kochi centre. In addition, there will be performances of traditional artforms like koodiyattam, mohiniyattam, ottanthullal, bharatanatyam, carnatic music and percussion programmes like panchavadyam,” Ananthakrishnan adds.
This was indeed the original idea for the establishment of the Folklore Centre in 2009. However, the facility, which is managed by the Cochin Heritage Zone Conservation Society, has not been able to host any event after the pandemic.
Kalamandalam hopes to revive this ambition, and announcing this is a grand three-day festival that kicks off on November 1. “There will be kathakali performances every day at 5pm during the three days,” Ananthakrishnan says.
The arts and culture institution is also mulling appointing faculty members and maintaining an office at the Fort Kochi centre to provide training to local students and tend to administrative tasks. The classes will be conducted during weekends and evening hours.
“With this, we will be able to fuel an interest for traditional art forms among the youngsters,” says kathakali maestro Kalamandalam Gopi, the chief guest of the opening event.
