KOCHI: “It’s kind of liberating to perform an art that has long been gatekept from women,” says Amritha Reghu, a Sopana Sangeetham teacher at Sopanam School of Panchavadyam in Edappal, Malappuram.
For generations, Sopana Sangeetham was largely a man’s domain and related to temple rituals and hereditary traditions. But many women are finding their way into the art, drawn by a sense of freedom, friendship and belonging they discover along the way.
At the Sopanam School, females now make up more than half of the students learning Sopana Sangeetham. While young girls are increasingly taking an interest in the art, it is older women who form the larger group.
For 61-year-old Ajitha A S, the journey has been a way of picking up where she left off.
“I loved singing and dancing when I was young, but could not pursue them for various reasons. Later, I would take my students to kalolsavams and enjoy their performances vicariously. After retirement, I felt I could finally return to what I had wanted to do. This group gave me that energy,” says Ajitha, who retired as a Sanskrit teacher from a school in Puthuppariyaram, Palakkad.
“When you learn with a group of women who are equally passionate, it changes you in many ways. You wake up wanting to do sadhakam (practise). You look forward to practising and performing together and also learn to accept and hold people together despite their differences,” says Ajitha.
For many, the journey into Sopana Sangeetham began with the ‘edakka’.
“There is something very absorbing about learning traditional percussion instruments such as edakka and chengila and incorporating them into Sopana Sangeetham. As you get into the rhythm and the singing, you forget everything around you. It feels like slipping into a trance. Very few temples allow us to perform at the sopanam these days, but there are more opportunities on stages and through independent performances,” said Devi Krishna, a student.
Sopana Sangeetham was for long restricted to men from the Maarar and Pothuval communities, who traditionally performed it near the sanctum sanctorum of temples as a hereditary profession. Temples have gradually become more accommodating of diversity, says Ajitha.
And, Sopanam School embodies that transformation. It welcomes students irrespective of caste, religion or creed. The common thread being their love of art. Of its 51 students, 30 are women aged 50 and above, while 10 are girls. The remaining are men. This year, on International Women’s Day, the group took part in what was billed as the first all-woman panchavadyam performance in the state. Half of the performers were the school’s Sopana Sangeetham students.
The barriers have not disappeared. The menstrual taboo that has traditionally restricted women’s participation in temple arts continues to influence who can perform. Yet, as opportunities to learn and perform expand, more women are challenging these restrictions.
