The Sterling Book of Indian Classical Dances by Shovana Narayan

Author:Shovana Narayan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sterling Publishers Pvt Ltd

Make-up, Costume and Music

Colour of the base make-up and costume inclusive of headgear (‘mudi’) and beard (‘tadi’) of the dancers are important for they lend a meaning. Equally important are the categorisation of characters. For example, ‘pacca’ represent the heroic, kingly and divine, ‘katti’ represents the demonic with noble characteristics, ‘kari’, the black type stands for a demoness, ‘tadi’ stands for the bearded, ‘teppu’ refers to those painted representing a special class and ‘minukku’ with realistic make-up suggests female characters, ‘brahmans’, messengers or the common man. In other words, green suggests a god-like character, red a demonic character and yellow a wondrous character. Some characters are seen sporting a ridge-like white beard, made of ‘chutti’ or rice paste and lime, and looking like layers of paper that is glued to the face. Other beards are made of jute. Among the bearded variety too, there are the white beards or the ‘veluppu tadi’ signifying good luck, the black beard or ‘karuppu tadi’ signifying barbaric forest hunters and the red beard or ‘chokanna tadi’ for demonic characters. The finishing touches are provided with two white pith knobs on the tip of the nose and the forehead that are known as ‘chuttipuvvu’. The more demonic the character, the larger is the size of these knobs. Sometimes, these could be accompanied by fangs.

The costume of Kathakali is as unique as its make-up. The dancers wear full skirts that are multi-layered, reaching just below the knees while the top is a full-sleeved, high-necked jacket covered with jewellery covering the entire front up to the waist. The skirts are normally white in colour and have a striped border while the colour of the jacket depends on the character being depicted. Only the skirts of demonic characters are either black or dark coloured. Some of the characters may wear hats that bear strong resemblance to the early Portuguese hats. Minukku characters wear no skirt but sport a ‘dhoti’ instead. The female characters wear full skirts with a coloured jacket on top, again laden with necklaces that cover the entire front. On the head a long veil covers the bun that is made towards one side of the head. Wrists, forearms and shoulders of both men and women characters are decorated with jewellery. Some of the principal characters wear, in addition to the multi-layered necklaces, additional scarfs with bordered ends, bound at intervals ending in tassellike shape, sporting a mirror at one end, called ‘uttariyam’. Finally, a set of silver coloured long finger nails are worn on the left hand. The ankle bells in Kathakali numbering twenty or so, are not worn at the ankles but are tied just below the knees.

The musical instruments accompanying a Kathakali performance are—three kinds of drums called the ‘chenda’, ‘madallam’ and ‘edakka’, large cymbals and a vocalist who strikes a metal gong. The ‘sopan’ style of music within the fold of Carnatic musical system is predominantly used.

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