In the world of Koodiyattam, Painkulam Rama Chakyar stood tall as a rule-breaker and trailblazer.
Koodiyattam fraternity across the country is gearing up for commemorating the 44th death anniversary of Painkulam Rama Chakyar. The 44th anniversary has nothing special about it, but they seem to be committed to revive the memory of his immortal contributions to the age-old Sanskrit theatre. For, he was a legend during his own lifetime – a privilege not many had enjoyed in history. He passed away on July31, 1980 immediately after his return from Paris. And that tour was historically important since Koodiyattam was staged under his leadership for the first time in a foreign land.
Rama Chakyar was a visionary, revolutionary and an iconoclast in many respects as far as Koodiyattam was concerned.
He believed that Koodiyattam would not survive the test of times, if confined to the Koothampalams of temples. Eyebrows were raised when he presented Koothu at the residence of Thekkekkara Bhattathiri on September 21, 1949. It was under his supervision that `Subhadradhanajjayam’ was staged for six days at the Zamorin’s Kovilakam in Kozhikode under the aegis of All India Radio (AIR) in August 1956.
The functionaries of Kerala Kalamandalam never had to look for a Chakyar to head the department of Koodiyattam when it was introduced as a separate discipline in 1965. For the first time in the history of Koodiyattam, non-Chakyar students received training under Painkulam Rama Chakyar there. Kalamandalam Rama Chakyar (his nephew), Kalamandalam Sivan Namboodiri, Kalamandalam Girija and Kalamandalam Shylaja, who were in the faculty of the department in Kalamandalam later, belonged to the first batch of Rama Chakyar’s disciples. The avant-garde maestro was so concerned about his disciples that he frequented the department to guide them even after his retirement in 1975.
From temple stages to Parisian spotlights
In a similar way, when the French impresario Milena Salvino wanted to take a Koodiyattam troupe for performances in Paris, only Painkulam Rama Chakyar was willing, ignoring the taboo of a Chakyar going beyond the seas.
Both as a performer and guru he was unmatched. If humour is an intrinsic quality of a Chakyar, Rama Chakyar had it in abundance. Not only on the stage but in everyday life too. When he used to appear as vidushaka for Koothu, his first glance was suffice to leave the audience in peals of laughter.
He believed that brevity was an intrinsic quality of narration. So his narrations were concise and devoid of the elaboration of the distorted purushardhas characteristic of the Chakyar community. It was this ingenuity that made his vaakku (word) more puissant and vitriolic. And he never spared none among the audience.
Said the late Sanskrit scholar K. P. C. Narayanan Bhattathiripad, “Once, he did not spare even his father who was seated in the front row; such artistes have been very rare.” Contemporary issues figured during the discourse and got dovetailed with the main anecdotes in the story.
Crafting concise narratives
He was very versatile and left his imprint on the roles he essayed. “It has to be said that this became possible only because of Chachu Chakyar’s ability to nurture and mould his students,” observed Rama Chakyar about his guru and mentor, Ammannur Chachu Chakyar, in his autobiographical notes.
After preliminary training under his elder brother, Painkulam Narayana Chakyar, and later under Kindangoor Rama Chakyar, Rama Chakyar joined the Ammannur Kalari, Irinjalakuda, for advanced training.
“Ramettan had the privilege of accompanying Chachu Ammavan (uncle) for a long time from which he benefitted substantially,” Guru Ammannur Madhava Chakyar had averred once.
A keen sense of aesthetics distinguished Rama Chakyar from the rest of his fraternity. For him, Koodiyattam was more of a theatre form than a ritual. Perhaps he was the first Chakyar to identify this.
Performances of plays that would last for days were dexterously edited by him. ‘Naganandarn’, ‘Sakuntalam’, `Swapnavasavadattam’, `Kalyanasougandhikam vyay gam’ and ‘Bhagavadajjukam parahasanam‘ are noteworthy. There is hardly any department of Koodiyattam that he has not influenced.
The vidushaka slokas he had composed for the new choreographies were expressions of his poetic genius. Again, it was his artistic sense that transformed the aaharya of Koodiyattam from its primitive form to the elegant one of today.
Coming back to the Paris trip, it was on the day of Thrissur Pooram in 1980, a Koodiyattam contingent under his leadership set out for Paris. The Chakyar community fumed over this misadventure. They felt that Rama Chakyar was transgressing pardonable boundaries. A long journey that began on the day of the Pooram was also considered inauspicious.
But Kalamandalam Ramankutty Nair’s words on the occasion became prophetic. He had expressed hope that Koodiyattam would become as famous as Thrissur Pooram. And today, many universities across the world are engaged in the promotion and study of Koodiyattam.
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