A five-day Koodiyattam festival – Panchakanya Rangavarthana Mahotsavam underway at Thrissur is turning the spotlight on five mythological heroines whose stories have long been overshadowed by those of their masculine counterparts in the classical Indian performance art of Koodiyattam.
Conceptualized by Koodiyattam exponent Usha Nangiar, the Panchakanya Koodiyattam Mahotsavam, running through June 18 at the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi, is dedicated to retelling the narratives of Ahalya, Draupadi, Sita, Tara, and Mandodari.
Each day, one of the women’s tales is enacted by the festival’s organizer, Usha Nangiar, along with Kapila Venu and Aparna Nangiar.
The five noble ladies are powerful figures in Hindu mythology. Ahalya was turned to stone by her husband after being falsely accused of unfaithfulness; Draupadi, the wife of the Pandava brothers, was insolently disrobed in court; Sita proved her purity by walking through fire; Tara was abducted by divine forces to be the mother of spiritual leaders; and Mandodari was the wife of the antagonist Ravana in the epic Ramayana.
