Koodiyattam, also transliterated as Kutiyattam, is a traditional performing artform in the state of Kerala, India. It is a combination of ancient Sanskrit theatre with elements of Koothu, a Tamil/Malayalam performing art which is as old as Sangam era. It is officially recognised by UNESCO as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.
Perumanoor Gopinathan Pillai, more popularly known as Guru Gopinath was a well known actor-cum-dancer. He is well regarded as the greatest preserver of the dance tradition. He is a recipient of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award.
Guru Kunju Kurup (1881-1970) was one of the most famous Kathakali artistes to have born and celebrated in south Kerala, and gained popularity in central and north Kerala as well.
Guru Mani Madhava Chakyar was a celebrated master performance artist and Sanskrit scholar from Kerala, India, considered to be the greatest Chakyar Koothu and Koodiyattam artist and authority of modern times. He was considered as the authority of Abhinaya and Nātyaśāstra.
Kavalam Narayana Panicker was an Indian dramatist, theatre director, and poet. He has written over 26 Malayalam plays, many adapted from classical Sanskrit drama and Shakespeare, notably Madhyamavyayogam (1979), Kalidasa's Vikramorvasiyam, Shakuntalam (1982), Karnabharam, Bhasa's Uru Bhangam (1988), Swapnavasavadattam, and Dootavakyam (1996). He is the founder – director of theatre troupe, Sopanam, which led to the foundation of Bhashabharati: Centre for Performing Arts, Training and Research, in Trivandrum.
Neralattu Rama Poduval or Njaralathu Rama Poduval (1916–1996) was an exponent of the ashtapadi/sopanam music form practised in Kerala in southern India. A recipient of the Kendra Sahitya Academy award, he hailed from a rugged village called Thiruvaazhaamkunnu, near Mannarkkad in Palakkad district and lived most of life in Angadipuram in Malappuram district, the place famous for the Thirumanthamkunnu Temple.
Sunanda Nair is an Indian dancer. She is a leading exponent of Mohiniyattam or Mohini Attam and one of the few performers of this dance form. She was born in Mumbai.
Kalamandalam Krishnan Nair was one of the most renowned Kathakali artists of any time, and arguably the greatest in the history of the four-century-old classical dance-drama from Kerala in southern India. He had fleshy, flexible and clean-cut facial features that were powerful to launch any emotion with amazing power and ease, and was intelligent enough to acquire and exhibit varied styles of Kathakali that were in vogue across Kerala during his lifetime.
Guru Kelu Nair was a renowned Kathakali artist and teacher. He trained in Kathakali from Kerala Kalamandalam under gurus like Pattikkantodi Ravunni Menon and Guru Kunchu Kurup. He pursued higher studies in Rasa-abhinaya from Rasa-abhinaya maestro guru Nātyāchārya Vidūshakaratnam Padma Shri Māni Mādhava Chākyār. In 1936, he was invited by Sri Rabindranath Tagore to establish the first Kathakali curriculum at Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan. There were no Kathakali accompanists during the time, and he composed Kathakali dance in Rabindra Nritya. Only after Kathakali arrived in Santiniketan, Tagore wrote the dance drama Shyama in which the characters Bajrasen and Kotal were created with the Kathakali technique in mind. He remained as a faculty member in Santiniketan until the death of Tagore in 1941. Noteworthy disciples of Guru Kelu Nair include Mrinalini Sarabhai, Rukmini Devi Arundale and Yog Sunder Desai.
Keezhpadam Kumaran Nair (1916–2007) was a Kathakali artists from Kerala, India. Endowed with a life profile that also exposed him to several traditional Indian performing arts other than Kathakali, his stage presentation infused a fresh breath into the four-century-old art form, thanks also to his broad and deep view about the Puranas that spurred from a constant pursuit of knowledge through reading books and engaging in talks in scholars.
Kalamandalam Padmanabhan Nair (1928–2007) was an eminent Kathakali exponent, equally known for his capacities as a tutor, theoretician and author of a few authentic texts on the classical dance-drama from Kerala in south India. A son of the Kathakali guru Pattikkamthodi Ravunni Menon, Padmanabhan Nair was one of the early-batch students in Kerala Kalamandalam, where he subsequently joined as a teacher and retired as its principal in 1990. He died on 3 April 2007, at his home in Shoranur, near his alma mater, where he led his post-professorial life with wife and Mohiniyattam exponent and guru, Kalamandalam Satyabhama.
Pattikkamthodi Ravunni Menon (1880-1948) was a pivotal figure in the history of Kathakali, having played a crucial role in remoulding and refining its grammar in the famed Kalluvazhi tradition of the classical dance-drama from Kerala in south India. He was trained in the art form at a culture-patronising Namboodiri mansion in Vellinezhi near his home, even as his genius ensured that Menon later redrew the aesthetics of Kathakali and its future profile altogether.
Vazhenkada Kunchu Nair, also spelt Kunju Nair, (1909-1981) was an outstanding Kathakali mastero of the 20th century. He was a unique legendary personality who was a brilliant performer, an excellent guru (teacher) and a scholar in Sanskrit that nobody could match in the world of Kathakali. He mainly served in two of the great institutions of Kathakali in Kerala as their Guru, first in PSV Natya Sangham, Kottakkal Since 1946 and from 1960 to 1972 at Kerala Kalamandalam. He was the first principal of Kerala Kalamandalam, the premier performing arts institute of Kerala in south India. A Padma Shri and Sangeet Natak Akademi Awardee, Kunchu Nair was a frontline disciple of the legendary Pattikkamthodi Ramunni Menon, and was noted for his subdued portrayal of lead Kathakali roles like Nalan, Rukmangadan, Dharmaputrar, Bhiman, Arjunan, Brahmanan and Parasuraman (Sitaswayamvaram) besides in anti-hero slots like Ravanan and Duryodhanan.
Kalamandalam Vasu Pisharody is a leading Kathakali artiste known for his restrained portrayal of character roles in the classical dance-drama of Kerala in south India. A frontline disciple of Padma Shri Vazhenkada Kunchu Nair, he excels in virtuous pachcha, anti-hero Kathi and the semi-realistic minukku roles alike. Nalan, Bahukan, Arjunan, Bhiman, Dharmaputrar, Rugmangadan, Narakaasuran, Ravanan, Parashuraman and Brahmanan are his masterpieces.
Sadanam Krishnankutty is a cultural artist and a popular performer of Kathakali, a unique classical dance-drama form of Kerala, South India. A recipient of Kerala Kalamandalam awards and fellowship, he is reputed for his skill in donning a wide range of characters in his acts. He received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 2007.
Mankompu Sivasankara Pillai, of Kerala in south India, was a reputed Kathakali artiste of the classical dance-drama's southern style. Noted for his consummate depiction of pachcha, kathi and minukku roles, he is a disciple of late maestro Chenganoor Raman Pillai.
Kalamandalam Appukutty Poduval (1924–2008) was a maddalam maestro who rose to prominence by his aesthetically pleasing taps on the instrument—a vital percussion accompaniment for Kathakali, the classical dance-drama from Kerala in south India. A disciple of the legendary Venkichan Swami, he, along with chenda exponent, Kalamandalam Krishnankutty Poduval, ushered in a new spring in the acoustics of their performing art.
Vazhenkada Vijayan is a senior Kathakali exponent and a retired principal of Kerala Kalamandalam, the performing art institute where he was trained in the classical dance-drama from Kerala in southern India.
Kavungal Chathunni Panicker was an Indian classical dancer, known for his proficiency in Kathakali, the traditional dance form of Kerala. He was an exponent of the Kavungal School of Kathakali, noted for its rigorous training methods and overt physical interpretation of abhinaya. He is known to have brought innovations to the dance form, especially in the decorative movements (kalasam) and his contributions are reported in the development of grammar and costumes for the Kavungal School. A recipient of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1973, Panicker was honored again by the Government of India, in 2006, with the fourth highest Indian civilian award of Padma Shri.
Kalamandalam Gangadhran was a prominent Kathakali musician from Kerala. His unique tenor and accent has earned him a large audience both within and outside Kerala. He was the most prominent disciple of Kalamandalam Neelakandan Nambeesan, and the Master of the many later generations of Kathakali Musicians. He was a visiting professor at Margi, an organization dedicated to the revival of Kathakali and Kutiyattom, two classical art forms of Kerala. In 2006, he was honoured by the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award.
