Nepathyam 😍😍

When the twilight loses its multitudes of hues to the all-engulfing darkness of night, the thick wicks bathed in untainted coconut oil in the kalivilakku (huge bell metal lamp placed in the temple premises) are lit to commence a resplendent art form called Kathakali. A stylized version of Indian classical dance drama that originated roughly in the same period when Shakespeare was scribbling his masterpieces, Kathakali riveted the attention of many with its magnificent make-up of characters, elaborate costumes and well-defined body movements.

It combines devotion, drama, dance, music, costumes and make up into a divine experience for all who get to view it. It retells the great stories of the past, mostly from Indian epics, and leaves one spellbound at the various intricacies involved in the performance.

The pomp and magnificence of Kathakali is partly due to its decor, part of which is the kireetam (huge ornamental headgear) and the kanchukam (over-sized jackets), and a long skirt worn over a thick padding of cushions. The artists completely immerse themselves and the audience into the story they're describing.

These resplendent make-ups, known as vesham, typify the character in Kathakali. The accepted conventions regarding the veshams classify it into five basic sets, based on the characteristics of the facial make-up. They are viz. namely Pacha (green), Kathi (knife), Kari (black), Thaadi (beard), and Minukku (radiant).

The pacha vesham with its predominant green colour is used to portray noble male characters like kings and divine beings.

Kathi characters are arrogant and evil but have a streak of valour in them. Though their make-up is basically green, denoting that they are high born, a red mark like an upturned moustache or knife is painted on the cheek to show that they are evil.

There are three distinct types in the class of thadi vesham viz. chuvanna thadi (red beard as in the case of the character Bali - the king of monkeys) vella thadi (white beard) and karutha thadi (black beard). The red beards are vicious and excessively evil characters.The white beard represents a higher type of being and is seen mainly in the character of Hanuman, the monkey god. The black beards are the character types in which black predominates in make-up and costume.

Kari vesham is used for demonic characters, portraying the most gruesome figures on the Kathakali stage.

Minukku vesham symbolizes gentleness and high spiritual qualities (like saints), which are in sharp contrast to the preceding four classes.

Apart from these five main classes there are eighteen special characters like Jatayu, Hamsam and Karkotaka whose make-up cannot be fitted into any particular category.

'Nepathyam' means green room or 'aniyara' in Malayalam. It denotes the backstage, where all the real work for a performing art takes place. The backstage is quite an important place for performing arts.

What you see on stage is the completed product, finished to perfection with the meticulous work that has taken place backstage for which students of Kathakali have to undergo rigorous training replete with oil massages and separate exercises for eyes, lips, cheeks, mouth and neck. Abhinaya or expression is of prime importance as is nritya or dance and geetham or singing.

🥰🥰 Procedures to be undertaken by all the Kathakali artists.....🥰🥰