How a Kothu performance proved to be a social status

From Munnetrum, an overnight phenomenon that ended the division between art forms

Of. Velur Village, Arcot Taluk, Ranipat District, recently stirred with young energy, kind spirits and pride. The platform near the Uthirgiri Amman Temple in the village, with two idols, which Kalavai Ponnasamy and Tamil scholar Prof. M. Dedicated to Varadrasana, talks about the legacy of Kuthu and Tamil in his legacy for a long period of the village.

The village hosted Munnetrum (Pragati) The project of kattikkuttu training program in three villages in the surrounding area shares small versions of its new Kothu with the project of kattikkuttu training program, Carnatic music (Ashwath & Team), Bharatanatyam (trained in the Katrian village of Iswaran and Katrian in the Katrian village of Katri). The night incident started at 9 pm and lasted till 6.30 am, the project was led by Thilagavati Palani.

Kothu performance overnight in northern Tamil Nadu is not new. But the presence of a young audience through the night, the performance of urban and rural groups, a mixture of classical and folk forms and the dynamics of the inclusive caste and gender were certainly refreshed.

Munnetram did. Velur village turned into a platform for artistic use

Although we feel that breaking the mistake lines of urban-rural division in performance art in Tamil Nadu is a recent event, it actually has its own unique history.

When culture in India is getting homogeneous, the home -developed artists are comforting to seriously associate with their art forms. This engagement has been important in bringing about changes in contemporary contexts – due to still accessible.

Village leader Nandkumar was happy that for the first time a Carnatic music concert was staged there. While a female artist was shown in Mangalvidhyam (Nagasvaram and Thville, each of each), the Nainbarkal Group in Northern Chennai included school and college students and employed people led by Deepan; He performed Parai, Silumbam, Karagam, Poekluthirai and Mayilatam.

Deepan shared how these arts were for livelihood options and group members to create awareness and create awareness.

Three Kothu demonstration-Pudheri Pilivakkam (trained by A. Kandipani), Velia Nallour (taught by Arimuthu alias Babu) and K. Velur also highlighted himself to eradicate the socio-cultural division in the incident of Thilagavati-under the leadership of Thilagavati. There were demonstrated stories Wilvalipu / Drapati’s wedding, Sindhavan Garv Bangam And Karna MohammedMythology was employed to establish a connect with the audience. Its purpose was to think through familiar stories.

The culmination of a three -month long training, the first Kothu group had a total of 24 artists in the age group of seven to 18 years. Kandipin has mentioned how about 50 of them came for auditions. The second group had a mixture of professional artists and students. Karna Mohammed Mainly the mixed gender group was performed by Dalit youth.

While most trainers and musicians in all three villages were drank. Studied simultaneously at Kattikukutu Gurukulam of Rajagopal, many young artists are working with Thilagavati in Shri Krishna Kattikkatu Kuju. “Although it can be laborious, I am emotional about training young enthusiasts. We need them to pursue this movement. It is a rewarding experience because they come with their sets of new ideas and perspectives,” called Thilagavathi. She had been dreaming of this project for three years. Bhuwana Foundation educationist Prema Rangachari helped to crystallize it.

In the 1980s, the Madras Craft Foundation began folk forms in Chennai schools. Scholar and writer VR Devika worked on it for almost a decade. In 1990, Rajagopal and his wife Han Dey Bruin launched residential Kothu training Gurukulam in Panjarsangal. He accepted boys and girls from various caste groups. In fact, Thilagavati is the first graduate of Gurukulam. However, it is becoming difficult to maintain the school without state recognition or money.

Thilgavati, who broke new grounds as a female Kathu artist, is reaching women and encouraging them to use the form of art to improve their lives. In this trip, she often joins by trained Bharatanatyam dancer Sungeta Avaran, whose NGOs work on bringing about social and cultural intervention through Katri art.

Art can change how communities are considered. in that sense, Munnetrum A protesting incident was more than the event, it removed the obstacles for progress.