Skip to content

Dharma Documentaries

Buddhism and Its Cultures

Menu
  • Dharma
  • Culture
  • Ecology
  • Archives
  • About
Menu

To Play Kutiyattam with the Master

Posted on March 19, 2021February 11, 2022 by Dharma Documentaries
A look at the traditional classical dance form of Kutiyattam in Kerala, South India.

To Play Kutiyattam with the Master

This is the fourth in a series of films about the role of dance in Asia’s cultures. Dance is deeply intertwined with religion, folklore, and language in many cultures. This film is about Kutiyattam (pronounced Koodiyattam), a traditional dance form in the southern state of Kerala, India, where it is performed in the temples.

The film follows the story of Vipin, a young boy who is interested in learning the dance form from a maestro of Kutiyattam: Rama Chakya. We follow Vipin’s journey from his village to the Kutiyattam training institute, Kalamandalam. We get a glimpse into the rigorous training that pupils of this dance form undergo to become eligible to perform at the temples.

Kutiyattam is one of India’s most ancient dance-drama forms and is based on the treatise on theatre written over 2000 years ago—the Natyashastra. The primary purpose of Kutiyattam is worship and to retell the Rāmāyaṇa and other stories in a dance-drama form. As the film progresses, we see Vipin’s progress in learning the dance and its accompanying music and language. We are introduced to his teacher who is a maestro of the dance and recounts the story of kutiyattam.

This film offers an interesting overview into South India’s only traditional Sanskrit theatre. Since the 1960s, Kutiyattam training has been opened to other castes, from formerly being restricted to only members of the Chakya caste. This has allowed young boys like Vipin to learn the art form and carry forward its legacy.

Through this film, we are able to appreciate the effort that goes into maintaining and preserving this ancient art form. Revival in the form of international performances and its status by UNESCO as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity has ensured Kutiyattam’s survival into the modern era.

 

if the video does not appear on the page, try reloading the page; and if that doesn’t work, leave a comment so I can update the page (the comment is not published)

 

to see an album of screenshots click here

 

TAGS:
Culture, Dance, Hinduism, India, Theatre

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Comments do not appear straight away, but are moderated before publication

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Search

Subscriptions

Follow our Facebook Page Follow our Tweets Subscribe to our Feed

Subscribe by Email

Email


Shortlink and QR

https://dharma-documentaries.net/b/4JA

Donations

This site has taken more than fifteen years and 1,000s of hours to build, and has more than a thousand documentaries on it. If you would like to help, you can do so here. Even small amounts make a difference.

Copyright

If anyone has any copyright claims please contact me at dharmadocus@gmail.com and the posts and films will be immediately removed.

Top Ten Tags

Theravada
Mahayana
Vajrayana

India
Silk Road
China
Tibet

Arts
Lectures
Women

Sponsorship

 hosting sponsored by exabytes.my 

Random Posts

  • The Scientific Buddha 3, The Problem With Karma
  • Sukhothai, Thailand (Expoza)
  • Envisioning the Buddha
  • Dorothy Wong, Making Merit
  • Tea Road to the Skies 3, On the Roof of the World
  • Gobi by Boerte (Mongolian Music Video)
  • David Eckel: Buddhism 13-14 of 24
  • The Story of Buddhism by Benoy K Behl
  • Stories from Ladakh
  • The Genius of Photography 6: Snap Judgements

Recent Posts

  • Mongolian Temple Architecture
  • Mongolian Applique
  • Mongolian Thangka
  • Painting in Time
  • Allon, Buddhism in Ancient Gandhāra
  • Buddhist Heritage of Pakistan
  • Overview of the Tibetan Book of the Dead
  • Yungang Grottoes 06, Guarding Eternal Beauty
  • Yungang Grottoes 05, Wuzhou Grottoes
  • Yungang Grottoes 04, Reforms by Two Saints

Related Posts:

  • The Celestial Dance of Bhutan
  • Kabuki, the Path of the Flowers
  • The Young Girl and the Monkey
  • India' and Indonesia's Shared Ancient and Modern…
  • The Silk Road Series 10/16: Journey Into Music,…
  • Dunhuang, The Heavenly Dance (6 of 8)
  • Dunhuang, Exotic Music and Dance (3 of 8)
  • Prajna Earth, Journey into Sacred Nature
  • The Story of Buddhism 10, The Search Beyond
  • Tashi Jong, a Tibetan Community in Exile
© 2025 Dharma Documentaries | Powered by Minimalist Blog WordPress Theme