Tech onslaught threatening traditional arts of Thanjavur

Still, a few stalwarts continue to sweat to keep the flame of traditional art forms shining bright and helm them into the future with élan. 

One such propagator of the Thanjavur style of Bharatanatyam referred to as Sadir, is KPK Chandrasekaran (55), son of the famous KP Kittappa Pillai (1913-1999), whose disciples included the well-renowned Vaijayanthi Mala Bali, Sudha Rani Ragupathy, Hemamalini, Yamini Krishnamurthy, Padmalosani Nagarajan, Narmada, Roshan Vajitha and Indirani Raguraman.

 KP Kittappa Pillai was a veteran musician, musicologist and doyen of Bharatanatyam and a renowned guru. Recalling his father’s contributions, Chandrasekaran said, Kittappa Pillai re-worked, re-introduced many hitherto unknown compositions like Navasanthi Kauthuvam, the dance dedicated to the Gods of eight directions (Astathikku). This dance used to be performed during the flag hoisting ceremony of the annual festival of Thanjavur Big temple. “Our family members are still performing the Navasanthi Kauthuvam in Thanjavur Big temple during the Tiruvadirai day,” added Chandrasekaran.

The performance of Navasandhi Kauthuvam, the dance with songs, to propitiate the gods of eight directions—Indran, Agni, Yaman, Niruthi, Varunan, Vaayu, Kuberan, Esaanan during the ceremonial flag hoisting for the Chithirai Festival in Big temple has been uninterrupted for around 200 years, the “Chinna Melam” tradition had a break from the 1940s he informed. “The Navasandhi Kauthuvams, created by the Gangai Muthu Nattuvanar, the ancestor of the Thanjavur Quartet — Chinnaiah (1802), Ponnaiya (1804), Sivanandam (1808) and Vadivelu (1810), who codified the Sathir has been performed by our ancestors and now by our family,” says Chandrasekaran, the eighth generation guru in the Thanjavur style.

Chandrasekaran, who works as a dance teacher at the Tamil Nadu Government Music School in Tiruvarur, still teaches dance at his ancestral home in Thanjavur West Main Street during the weekends. He also visits Tirunelveli twice in a month to teach the classical form and conducts dance camps at Bangalore, Goa and Mangalore during summer.

“The very texture and the standing position in the stage would show the difference between our traditional way of performing and others. There is perfection in our Thanjavur adavu (standing position). It takes many years for a student to achieve one level in the traditional pieces. We start teaching students only above the age of seven. Now, parents have started admitting the children even at the tender age of three and it is not advisable,” he said. He is worried about the blatant commercialisation of teaching dance in the present day. “Parents even spend beyond Rs 50,000 per year and are eager to make their children perform within a short span of two or three years,” he said. Chandrasekaran told DT Next, “The parents even demand us to teach them a few cinematic pieces, but we strongly refuse such requests.”

Thanjavur Poikal Kuthirai is as famous as Bharatam, but the status of the classical art has been in the verge of decline as the present generation show less interest in the dance form as it requires hard work. “There were once around 500 artists living in and around Thanjavur but only four of family are performing the traditional Poikal Kuthirai,” said Bhanumathi Rajarathinam (55), a Poikal Kuthirai dancer.   She further said that there is no easy way to learn the art of Poikkal Kuthirai as one has to tie wooden pieces (‘kattai’) to their legs and balancing would be a task at least during the initial phase. It would lead them to sustain minor injuries while practicing. As time passed, the traditional dancers like Banumathi lost chances for performance as it has been modernised with limited time and broad wooden structures to stand which would be easier even for amateur artists.“This apart, our articles like parts of the Poikal Kuthirai, Karagam and other decorative items needed to be carried in more than eight bags and the transportation costs add up. So less number of people invites us for the programmes,” she said. She also blamed the agents for taking the easy way out by not giving chances for traditional artists and promoting less knowledgeable groups. “Once we had many invites for government functions. Now, these agents arrange for non-traditional programmes to save on cost,” Banumathi rued.

One exception is the Bommalattam. Even in the age of ubiquitous visual media, the traditional medium of Pommalattam, the puppet theatre in Thanjavur has been gaining more audience. The deft handling of strings by the puppet operators behind the scene gives life to the little puppets. TS Murugan (50), the second generation puppet show artiste from Kumbakonam recount how his family came into the art.

“My father TN Sankaranathan (91), who was trained in music was spotted by Mani Iyer, the doyen of Pommalattam and initiated to the art at the young age of 15,” said Murugan. Sankaranathan who worked for Mani Iyer for several years later started his own puppet show company and continued to perform in many places. Apart from standard themes of Vinayakar Puranam, Valli Thirumanam, we also enact themes scripted by various social organisations, said Murugan.

Apart from temple festivals, the puppet theatre has patrons who engage the troupe annually in their functions. “Ramanathapuram Samasthanam, Tiruvavaduthurai Adheenam, Kanchi Kachipettai temple are some who invite us to perform annually. Some of these performances extend up to five days,” added Murugan. The clientele for puppet theatre has been expanding he said with invitations for performing in the marriage functionspouring in.