Mohiniyattam

The history of Mohiniyattam is shrouded in mystery. Several scholars have assumed that this sole female lasya dance-heritage of Kerala might have been born by the 17^th century. Although there are references to the term “Mohini” in the medieval literature, it is not sure whether it has anything to do with Mohiniyattam as such. It has been largely presumed that King Swathy Thirunal who ruled the Tranvancore (south Kerala) State in the 19^th century had patronized Mohiniyattam along with Sadir. Palakkad Parameswara Bhagavathar was a vocalist cum choreographer in the court of King Swathy Thirunal who passed away when he was too young. Since then Parameswara Bhagavathar did not receive the kind of recognition he deserved. He therefore left the court and returned to his home-village in Palakkad. This might have happened in the closing decades of the 19^th century.

Back home, Parameswara Bhagawathar started imparting training in Mohiniyattam to the female-aspirants in and around Palakkad. Naturally the middle-class Nair women endowed with beauty, instinct for rhythm and music grasped the craft and content of Mohiniyattam and established themselves as dancers who were invited for recitals with troupe to the houses of Namboothiris, Kshathriyas and Nayars. They were either landlords or provincial feudal chieftains who supported the Mohiniyattam dancers socially and financially. Some of the culturally vibrant regions in Thrissur and Palakkad Districts such as Natavarambu near Irinjalakuda, Changaramkulam, north of Kunnamkulam, Pazhayannoor, Lakkidi and Ottapalam became the hotspots of Mohiniyattam. Most of the aforementioned Mohiniyattam dancers were experts in Kaikottikkali, a group dance, as well. In course of time, the British Government banned the temple-dancing by the Devadasis in south India. Its repercussion was felt in Kerala too. The English educated elites in Kerala began to look down upon Mohiniyattam as a cheap entertainment that covertly or overtly substantiated sexual promiscuity. Consequently the well-established Mohiniyattam dancers stopped dancing in public and confined themselves to their houses. Despised by the public as a degenerated dance-form, Mohiniyattam registered a steady decline and had almost disappeared from the cultural life of central Kerala. At this juncture poet Vallathol stepped in to save the art-form from extinction. The lasya-laden Mohiniyattam was an enduring fascination for Vallathol who added it to the curriculum of Kerala Kalamandalam in 1934. Apart from Mohiniyattam, Bharatanatyam too was added as an art-discipline at Kalamandalam. Kuchipudi was introduced as a subject of study only in the 1980’s.

The Acharyas whom Vallathol brought to Kalamandalam for imparting training to the girl-students remembered only a few items which they had learnt long back. With the institutionalized training, the repertoire of Mohiniyattam grew steadily and over the years it ensured a wider outreach in the Kerala society. Kalyani Amma, Madhavi Amma and Korattikkara Krishna Panickar were the Gurus who generously offered their services at Kalamandalam for the retrieval and preservation of Mohiniyattam. Of the few students who completed the Course successfully, Kalamandalam Kalyanikutty Amma became its doyen in the latter half of the 20^th century. With the passing of the grand old maestros, Vallathol appointed Thottassery Chinnammu Amma, the disciple of Kalamozhi Krishna Menon, as the Guru of Mohiniyattam at Kalamandalam. She too could recollect only a few items she had learnt long back. Of her disciples, Kalamandalam Satyabhama in due course became instrumental in creating a solid repertoire for Mohiniyattam by incorporating around thirty adavus, several Varnams and Padams.

Satyabhama ably assisted by the talented vocalists and percussionists choreographed some of the well-known Varnams of Swathy Thirunal and Padams of Irayimman Thampi while retaining the cholkettu, jathiswaram and the Varnam learnt from Chinnammu Amma. The soft, undulating torso movements, stylized hand-gestures and the expression of the multi-layered sringara won the attention of the initiated spectators and the Kalamandalam School of Mohiniyattam received from the public the kind of recognition it deserved. Dani Samajendragamini, Manasi me parithaapam, Sumasayaka, Elathalirshayane, Kanakamayamaayeetum, Panimathi mukhi and other compositions of Swathy Thirunal and the Padams of Irayimman Thampi such as Karunacheyvaan enthu thamasam became distinctive visual treatments when Sathyabhama and her distinguished disciples like Kalamandalam Padmini, Leelamma and Hymavathy performed on stage. Prior to these disciples, Kalamandalam Kshemavathy, Saraswathy and Sugandhi rose to become the flag-bearers of the Kalamandalam School of Mohiniyattam. N.K.Vasudeva Panickar, the singer and violinist and Ramakrishnan, the Mridangam player significantly contributed to the efforts of Sathyabhama in the creation of the repertoire. In chronological order, a Mohiniyattam concert adhered to Margam presents items viz. Cholkettu (pure dance), Jathiswaram (pure dance), Varnam (a combination of Nritta and Nritya), Padam (one focussing on abhinaya) and Thillana (pure dance). The aharya (make up and costuming) of Mohiniyattam is relatively simple and less colourful. A dressed up Mohiniyattam dancer more or less resembles the facial make up, costumes and jewellery of a middle class woman in the Kerala society. Her hair is gathered and tied into a smooth tight bun on one side of the head and is adorned with flowers. A traditional Mohiniyattam dancer seldom crosses over to the fast tempo either in movements or in foot-works. Slow and medium tempos are the forte of a Mohiniyattam dancer. The vocal and percussion-music are akin to those of the Karnatic Music. Apart from the conventional musical instruments used, some dancers insist on Edayka too as part of the BGM.

By the early 1980’s, Dr. Kanak Rele based in Mumbai and Ms. Bharati Shivaji based in New Delhi secured a comfortable space in Mohiniyattam. While Dr. Kanak Rele raised the prestige of Mohiniyattam at an academic level by providing it a scientific temperament, Bharati Shivaji reinterpreted its aesthetics by incorporating elements from similar classical dance-forms that are inclined towards lasya. Both maestros were carried away by the Sopana Style of Music and the indigenous rhythmic patterns explicated by the renowned Playwright, Poet and Theatre Director, the late Kavalam Narayana Panikkar. Dr. Kanak Rele established Nalanda Dance Research Centre in Mumbai which safeguards and promotes her style of Mohiniyattam. The performances of both these maestros run parallel to the mainstream Mohiniyattam in Kerala.

The school of Mohiniyattam founded and nurtured by the late Kalamandalam Kalyanikutty Amma is being preserved by her two daughters and their disciples. The Kalamandalam School of Mohiniyattam is still the most popular one and its practitioners are aplenty.