Kadha Prasangam Malayalam
Azucena Mcquay
It originated from an earlier art form Harikathakalakshepam which used similar techniques, but differed in theme and style. While Harikadhakalakshepam was based on themes from puranas and epics, Kadhaprasangam received themes largely from classical and popular literature.
Kadhaprasangam's heyday was in the second half of the 20th century, attracting crowds on temple grounds in the festival season. It spread beyond temple grounds as a popular presentation viz. 'Kadhaprasangam' by Swami Sathyadevan. The Govt of India honoured Swami Sathyadevan with a pension awarded to founders of art forms while the Swami was in Banaras in 1961.
Its chief and later exponents were Swami Brahmavruthan, M. P. Manmadhan, K. K. Vadhyar, P. C. Abraham, Joseph Kaimaparamban, V. Sambasivan, Kedamangalam Sadanandan, Kadavoor Balan,Dr. Kadavoor Sivadasan, Ayisha Beevi, Kollam Babu, Mavelikara S.S.Unnithan, V. Harsha Kumar, Kallada V. V. Kutty, Paravur Sukumaran, V. D. Rajappan, Vatakara V Asokan, Dr. Vasanthakumar Sambasivan, Nadakkal Ashokkumar,V V Jose Kallada, Gopika Vazhuthacaud and others. They contributed to Kerala's social and educational renaissance.[citation needed] Nadakkal Ashokkumar performed Kadhaprasangam in Temples, Cultural organisations, All India radio and Dooradarsan. He performed Shakespeare's Hamlet and Mahabharatha stories.
This was the topic of presentation by Dr Premeela Gurumurthy, at the Music Academy this morning (20th December 2010). She is the Head of the Department of Music, University of Madras. She was accompanied by the Shwetaranyam Sisters, Saswati Srikrishna and one more singer whose name I did not catch.
Dr Premeela began by tracing the terms used for Harikatha in the various states. It is called Kirtan in Marathi, Kathakatha in Hindi, Gagariya Purana in Gujarati, Harikatha in Telugu, Harikathe in Karnataka, Kathakalakshepam, Harikatha and Isai Sorpozhivu in Tamil and Kathaprasangam in Malayalam.
She briefly traced the origins of Harikatha in the Tanjavur region and spoke of the contributions of the founding fathers. The salient features of Harikatha include the performer remaining standing throughout and his/her use of the jalra/chipla. The musical forms include saki, dindi, ovi, abhanga, arya, pada, anjanigita, khadga, khandapadya, sisapadya, dvipada, churnika, chindu, nondichindu, temmangu, sloka, viruttam and ahaval. Apart from these, the compositions of saints in Marathi, Sanskrit, Tamil and Telugu are also used.
The Harikatha is usually in three parts. The panchapadi is the initial invocation and is followed by the prathamapadi which in turn is succeeded by the nirupanam. The panchapadi is for ensuring melakattu (right atmosphere) and involves use of jalra. The chipla is taken up for the prathamapadi. The songs selected for the prathamapadi usually depend on the subject of the main story. The last section, the nirupanam, is the script of the main story.
The panchapadi was sung today and then the prathamapadi as suited for Rukmini Kalyanam was demonstrated. Dr Premeela explained that the prathamapadi forms part of the purvapada and after the its rendition, a dhrupad and tillana follow after which there is a percussive interlude. Then the uttaranga involving the nirupanam begins.
Photographs of Harikatha greats were shown during the talk. Dr Premeela then went on to say that the Harikathas sometimes featured incongruous songs. She gave the example of Kanchadalayatakshi being sung by the Bhagavatars as the song of Rukmini when she prays to the Devi for blessing her with Krishna as husband. To overcome this, Bhagavatars composed their own songs and she demonstrated the song Sri Vidarbha Nagara Vasini in Purvikalyani, composed for the same situation by Tiruppazahanam Panchapakesa Sastri.
In Telugu, the Harikatha performers were experts in Bhajan too and the written text is called Yakshagana. Narayana Das set up the Sri Sarvaraya School in Vizianagaram to teach the art of Harikatha. He did not use Marathi and preferred Sanskrit. Dr Premeela did not mention this, but there is a statue for Narayana Das on the Vizag beachfront. He is also an ancestor of sorts of Dr Pappu Venugopala Rao and the latter presented a paper on him at the Music Academy in 1983 when another Harikatha exponent, Embar Vijayaraghavachariar was Sangita Kalanidhi designate. (This was mentioned by Drs Premeela and Pappu).
Two darus and a gadya of Nallan Chakravartulu Krishnamacharyulu pertaining to Srinivasa Kalyanam were presented by Saswati. These were in Athana, Bilahari and Mukhari. Saswati has a powerful voice and a theatrical style of rendition which was most impressive and effective.
Proceeding to Karnataka, Dr Premeela said that there are tales with Vaishnavite, Shaivite and Jain themes. The forms here are Talamaddale and Yekkalagana. A performance by Achyutadasa taken from was presented.
In Kerala there are three traditions. There is one form of purana pravachanam. The Harikatha was the second which was introduced by Meruswami and performed largely before royalty. The most popular form is the Kathaprasanga which has all kinds of themes, ranging from Romeo & Juliet to Mary Magdalene. KK Vadyar introduced this and he used poems of Kumara Asan, Ulloor Parameswara Iyer and Vallathol.
The presentation ended here and Dr Pappu remarked that it had a lot of information on Harikatha in Tamil Nadu, a little less on Andhra, very little on Karnataka and very, very little on Kerala. But the music was most melodious.
i have a strong disagreement with one point. hari kadha and kadha prasangam in kerala are two different entity. Hari kadha is purely religious based art form whereas stories of kadhaprasangams are more of criticals to the social evils exists in society. it was swathi thirunal who brought hari kadha in to kerala. kadhaprasangam developed much later to that.
KOCHI: Kadhaprasangam, the art form which entertained the audience by dramatically presenting stories with the accompaniment of songs, is turning 100 years old. The first Kadhaprasangam was presented by Alappuzha native CA Sathyadevan with the blessings of Sree Narayana Guru in Kollavarsham 1099 (indigenous calendar of Kerala). He presented poet Kumaranashan's 'Chandalabhikshuki' in the form of Kadhaprasangam. The songs were written by Pandit Karuppan. It was performed at Kelapanashan's primary school in Chendamangalam near North Paravur. Dr P Palpu and Kumaranashan were present to provide support.
It was the art form of Harikatha that turned into Kadhaprasangam, which imparted strength to the advancement of the Kerala Renaissance. Dr Palpu and Kumaranashan saw Harikatha, which was confined to temples with plots revolving around godly incarnations and mythological legends, as a means of calling out social realities. That is why 'Chandalabhikshuki', which depicted the meaninglessness of caste customs, was chosen as the first story.
After Sathyadevan, KK Vadhyar, Joseph Kaimaparamban, MP Manmathan, V. Sambasivan, Kedamangalam Sadanandan, V Harshakumar, Kadavoor Balan, Thevarthottam Sukumaran, Ayilam Unnikrishnan etc played important roles in the growth of Kadhaprasangam.
Before the first performance, Kumaranashan had insisted on knowing Gurudeva's opinion. Accordingly, Sathyadevan reached Sivagiri. "Don't abuse anyone harshly. The unethical royal justice and the immoral practices committed by the Brahmins in the name of Hindu dharma can be abused in polite language without hurting anyone," Gurudeva advised as he gave permission.
CA Sathyadevan (Neelakandan) was attracted to 'Harikatha' when he was in Tamil Nadu for work-related purposes. The desire to make something like that in Malayalam led to his meeting with Kumaranashan. After getting Kumaranashan's permission, he also visited Dr. Palpu in Ernakulam. It was on Dr Palpu's instructions that he went and saw Pandit Karuppan.
Pu.Ka.S and the library groups of North Paravur are preparing for the centenary celebration of Kadhaprasangam. The celebrations will last one year. A kadhaprasangam training course has also been planned for the students from December 28 to 30.
The constitution of Samajam got registered with the erstwhile Madhya Pradesh under Firms and Societies on 29th November 1968. While adopting the first constitution a twelve member committee was constituted with Shri P.T. Chacko as its President, Shri K.N. Raja as Vice President, Shri A.K. Pillai as Secretary, Shri M.A. Pailey as its treasurer and Shri V.Purushothaman, Shri K.T. Sugathan, Shri N.M.R.C. Nair, Shri K.K. Raja, Shri K.D. Raja, Shri C.N. Sukumaran and Shri K.M. Jacob as committee members.
Hailing from a literate state, the members were desirous of entering into the field of education ever since its inception. After multiple meetings and discussions a unanimous decision was taken to start a school of its own. It took its its final shape in the meeting held at the office of the United Tyre Works, Moudhapara of which Shri N.R. Unni was the proprietor. Due to financial constraints the General Body of Raipur Kerala Samajam constituted a five member committee for fund raising with Shri K.U. Ramakrishnan as Convener and Shri T.N.Chandrashekharan, Shri N.R. Unni, Shri S.Ramachandran and Shri K.G. Nambiar as its members.
Carrying the legacy forward the samajam is still celebrating Onam and Christmas festivals every year. Arts and Sports competitions are being conducted to encourage the members. Professional troops from Kerala as well as the artists of Raipur have staged drama, kadha prasangam, orchestra, mimicry and many other different cultural programs at Raipur. Malayalam language vacation learning classes are being conducted every year and a Malayalam library is also being run. Prominent writers, leaders from Kerala, Honourable Governors, Chief Ministers, Ministers and other leaders of Union as well State have been felicitated by the samajam at various occasions.
Remembering the unhindered commitment, services and dedication of founder members as well as the subsequent honorable office bearers, executive committee members and many others who have worked behind the scene since inception to till date without which the Samajam would not have grown up to such heights.
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