TRIPUNITHURA: The entry of the little boy was amazing. The make-up and costume were spectacular. Adhering to tradition he began with the rituals associated with koothu as soon as he stepped on the dais. Like a veteran artist, he chewed the betel leaf, and covered his face with the stole (uthareeyam) and set the mood for the one-hour performance. He acted as if he were counting the hair on the ‘mudi’, the symbolic hair atop the ‘vaasikam’ (the crown used by the Chakyar) and performed other conventional elements of Chakyarkoothu.
Eight-year-old Nepathya Sree Hari, the grandson of Kochukuttan Chakyar, presented Ganapathy Praathal, the beginner’s choice in Chakyarkoothu, which left the spectators spellbound.
The programme was held in connection with the celebrations of K P Achuthan’s 60th year in the cultural scenario. Though the viewers were familiar with the art form presented by Ammannoor Madhava Chakyar, Moozhikulam Kochukuttan Chakyar and
Sree Hari’s father Margi Madhu, watching Sree Hari was something special.
From the beginning the listeners were keen on tracing the talent of the child prodigy. Sree Hari surprised the connoisseurs gathered at Government Sanskrit College Auditorium by presenting attractive gestures and satirical mannerisms of the Chakyar.
His diction and clarity of the traditional slang were maintained throughout the performance.
Even at this tender age Sree Hari boldly spotted persons in the front row to compare them with the characters of the story. While presenting this very identity of the art form, Sree Hari Chakyar never spared anyone.
As a popularly known story line, the young Chakyar started with the description of importance of worshiping Lord Ganesha. After underscoring the importance of the worship of Lord Ganesha, he narrated the difficulties faced by a potter, carpenter and a tailor who had forgotten to worship Lord Ganesha before the formal beginning of their routine work.
The story led to the palace of King Vaisravana, the older brother of Ravana, who had decided to give a sumptuous feast to Lord Vighneswara. By exploring the infinite possibilities of the monoact the young actor surprised the viewers through his inimitable innocent style.
While narrating each of the sequences from the story, the prodigy was well aware of the beauty of the ancient style of oration and was also very keen to present it without mixing the dialogue with the colloquial language normally used in our day-to-day life. Sree Hari utilised the golden chance obtained for presenting the chakyarkoothu in front of an august audience and showcased the Moozhikulam lineage in chakyarkoothu that flourished and spread throughout Kerala.
Earlier a warm reception was given to K P Achuthan by his friends and well wishers.
