L S Rajagopalan’s Lifelong Dedication to Kerala’s Art

How L S Rajagopalan’s work enriched Kerala’s art scene

When thirteen extra-large cartons were unloaded at the library of Kerala Kalamandalam Deemed to be University campus at Cheruthuruthy last week, many among the staff could hardly believe their eyes. For each one was so heavy that three workers were needed to lift them. But the Vice-chancellor, Registrar and the Librarian were extremely overjoyed since they alone knew that they were the first lot to the Archive which the institution had recently opened.

And where did they come from? They were the contribution of the family of the late scholar L S Rajagopalan, who had spent his whole life time for the promotion of Kerala arts and artistes through his works that have no parallels. They were received officially from Ms K V Lalitha, his daughter-in-law, in a meeting at the Koothampalam in which glowing tributes were paid to the memory of the ‘Acharya’ by scholars and associates who had known him from close quarters.

Kerala Kalamandalam’s new archive

While Dr B Ananthakrishnan, the VC remarked that they were really a priceless treasure trove for the institution, Dr Lekha, the librarian revealed that the bundles contained the entire corpus of his works including articles – both published and non-published -, notes, Journals, rare books, theses etc. Dr K G Paulose, the first vice-chancellor of Kalamandalam pointed out that they are a gift to the posterity of students, teachers and researchers.

LS, as he was popularly known among his admirers across the world, was a self appointed, silent servant dedicated to the promotion and propagation of art forms of Kerala origin for the past fifty years. Admittedly, his painstaking efforts yielded epoch-making benefits to both the arts and its practitioners.

Music was his first love even as a child. Groomed by his parents, he explored deep into its nuances. It haunted him during his chemistry studies in Mumbai University. Jalatarangam, first seen in Uday Sankar’s dance troupe, fascinated him and he mastered it. Also, he graduated into a consummate flautist. While working in a pharmaceutical company in Mumbai later, much time was spent for attending concerts and reading books on music.

True, it was his deep knowledge of music that helped him to comprehend the nuances of a wide spectrum of arts ranging from folklore to Koodiyattam. In this connection, one is reminded of the conversation between sage Markandeya and King Varja described in the Vishnudarmottara Kavya in which the sage drives home to the king the necessity of learning music before he tries to learn other visual art forms. For, music is the fountainhead of arts in general. The Music Department of Calicut University at the School of Drama benefitted considerably from his lectures for the post-graduate students. Many are the students whom he guided for their Ph D thesis.

From Jalatarangam to Koodiyattam

What attracted LS to Koodiyattam years later was also its esoteric music. Perhaps he was the first and the last person to analyze the ‘swarikkal’ (rendition) of the Chakyars. He could discover that the style is midway between that of the chanting of Rig Veda and Sama Veda! He was also examiner of thesis on Koodiyattam in Sree Sankaracharya University, Kalady.

The credit for locating P K Gopala Vaadyaar, the lone survivor of the Kauthuma sakha of Sama Vedic chanting goes to LS. The style that disappeared in Thanjavur years ago was still extant in Puducode in Palakkad district where Vaadyar lived. His chanting of Sama Veda were documented by the Puducode Kendra of Bharatha Vidya Bhavan and presented to the National Archives. Realising the antiquity of the style of rendition, LS sent them to Wayne Howard, the American researcher who had already in his possession all the styles extant in the country. Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan of Puducode had felicitated both Vaadyaar and LS.

LS was perhaps the only person from Kerala who used to contribute to the Journals of Madras Music Academy during the period 1960 – 1980. His first presentation at the Academy was a paper on Sivageethi, a composition of Ramapanivadan on Mukkola Bhagavathy, as requested by the scholar Dr V Raghavan. But thereafter, invitations from the Academy poured in. The outside world knew about the singular percussion instruments of Kerala and their ingenious application for the first time thanks to the lectures of LS. All the veteran percussionists including Annamanada Parameswara Marar, Thrithala Kesavan, Appukutty Poduval, Trikkambaram Krishnankutty Marar, Machatt Appu Nair showcased their dexterity before the elite audience at the Academy on several occasions.

In this connection, the Koodiyattam demonstration at the Academy in December 1973 by Guru Mani Madhava Chakyar compeered by LS turned historic as the audience including Kapila Vatsyayan and Balasaraswathy were compelled to pay obeisance to both the Guru and LS after the show. Koodiyattam won national recognition for the first time as was reflected in the Padmasree title bestowed on Mani Madhava Chakyar next month. Later when he presented Ammannur Madhava Chakyar in the Krishna Gana Sabha, audience including danseuse Padma Subramaniam prostrated them.

It was again the association of the intelligentsia of Chennai that compelled LS to write two books on Koodiyattam widely hailed as authentic. They are ‘Women’s Role in Koodiyattam’ and ‘Koodiyattam: Preliminaries and Performance’. The unprecedented empowerment of women and women’s roles in Koodiyattam in the recent times is essentially a fall out of the first book. They were published by the Kuppuswamy Sastri Research Trust, Chennai.

Kathakali also received his patronage. Numerous articles apart about its music, he had directed the play ‘Rama Natakam’ composed by Arunachalakavi. To this day, this is the only Kathakali play produced in Tamil.

LS was perhaps the only scholar who could treat both classical and folk art forms with equal importance. His home, Lakshmi Nivas, Ganapathy Agraharam in Punkunnam Thrissur, always bustled with never-ending stream of visitors who ranged from folk artistes to professors from foreign Universities. A prolific writer, his articles highlighted even those aspects which were usually considered as trivial by others. The entire gamut of folk instruments was treated exhaustively for the first time by LS. Most of them were published in Sangeet Natak, the periodical of Sangeet Natak Akademi, Delhi. Akademi itself published the collection under the title, “Temple Musical Instruments of Kerala”.

Spectacular have been his contributions especially since all of them were made without any help from any agency, either government or private. But they were recognized only towards the sunset years of his life. The International Centre of Koodiyattam, Tripunithura honoured him with its first award in 2006. He was selected for Kalamandalam Award only in 2007, an year before his death.