Table Of ContentMargi As a Resource Centre for Kii(iyiit(am
o.s,WARRIER
AIa lime when the c1as~ical theatre of Kii~yal!3ffi wasfacingseriousdecline,the
late D.AppukuttanNairmadestrenouseffortstostartanewbeamforKutiyattam
in 'Margi', aschool forclassical arts inTrivandrum.The anempt was10 setupa
repertorytosustain the briefsurvivingtraditioninthis artform.Margihadthebenefitof
initial assistance from no less a master than Ammannur Madhava Chakyar as thefirst
visiting professor orAcharya andArnmannurKochukuttanChakyarastheresidentGuru.
It pursued the traditional teaching system underGurukula Sampradayam. Although the
school started in right earnest, public performance were rare due 10severe shortageof
funds. Margi also wanted torevive theimportantSanskritplayswhoseperformanceshad
ceased forquite some time.
Margi's Kfitiyattam Kalari got a real boost when Sangeet Natak Akademi gave it
support "for developing Margi, Thiruvananthapurarn, as a centre for providing regular
performance opportunities to trained artistes." This supportcarneat a timewhen Margi
artistes werequitedisillusionedforwantof opportunity for performance,recognitionor
public acclaim. Infact,someoftheartistes triedtofindalternativeincomeduetothepoor
emoluments they received atMargi.
The SangeetNatakAkademi projectgotstartedinMay 1991.Margialsoneededsome
timefororganisingasystematic schedule forperformances.Thisnaturallyledtorigorous
trainingprogrammes.Theartisteshadtocurtailtheirweeklyholidaysfromtwo10oneand
their annual vacation from twomonthstoonemonth.Itwasthendecidedtohaveweekly
performances of one or other scene from the plays studied. The Akademi's project
assistance, which wasgreeted asalucky signfortheartists,wasutilisedtoitsfullextent
bytheartistesofMargi.After thesethreerecentyearsofweeklyperformances,Margican
bejustifiably happy that it has by now more than doubled the total stage repertoireof
Kiiliyanamand istodayone oftheleadinginstitutions inthisfieldinthecountry.
The Repertoire
The late Shri. D. Appukuttan Nair, responsible forbuilding upMargi, had vowedto
rejuvenate the art ofKii~iyanamand spent mostofhis timefor thecause. Hewas very
keen to retrieve the forgotten and unperformed acts of dramas which werestageworthy
and thus succeeded in bringing back to the performance stage several of them like
Mayasitankam. Agnipravesankam and Pamasalankam ofAscharyachudamani by Sakti
Bhadra. Angu/iyankam, another act of the sarne drama, used to be performed as a
VazhipaduKiittu(ritual performanceattemplesbywayofofferingsandthattoo)justfor
12nights only, was converted as a Kazhcha Kurtu(performance to be viewedanalysed
226 G.S.WARRlER
and appreciated) by Margi; the performance extends to 32 nights. At present, Margi is
perhaps the only troupe which can present Saktibhadra's Ascharyachudamani, which
most Chakyars and many Sanskrit scholars consider the most complete drama thatcan
explainKiltiyattarn'sfullcapabilities.
Apart from the above, Margi has also presented the acts Balivadhankam and
Toranayuddhankam from Abhisheka Nataka, Kalyanasaugandhika, Tapati Samvarana
(FirstAct) and Subhadra Dhananjaya (First act, II nights). Kapali ofMattavilasam has
also been presented with the help of anoutside artiste. For the weekly performances,
Margi usually invites outstanding Kiitiyattam artistes from the two other institutions in
Kerala and dtis has led to closer cooperation and mutual understanding among allthe
leading Kupya!!aInartistes. .
Margi's Iatest attempl is to present fully the Mantrankam act from Bhasa's
Pratijnayaugandharayana, forwhichelaborate trainingisnow conductedundertheguest
teacher K.P.Narayanan Nambiar, an authority on the subject who has authored theonly
availabletreatiseonit.
Inviewoftherigoroustrainingand performanceexperiencegainedatMargi,withthe.
assistance of the grant from Sangeet Natak Akademi, Margi artistes have now started
reapingthe fruit of their hard work and dedication to this ancient art form. They getthe
satisfactionofgettingreasonableopportunitiesofpublic performanceand approbation,in
additiontoearningamodest honorarium.
Margi artistes have also been receiving recognition both inside and outside Kerala.
Guru Ammannur Kochukuttan Chakyarreceived the annual award for Kfitiya!!aInfrom
the Sangeet Natak Akademi in 1992. He has also been honoured with the award from
KeralaKalamandalam for 1994. AJuniorFellowship hasbeenawardedtoMargiMadhu
asaleadingKiitiyattamVeshamartiste bytheMinistry ofCulture,GovernmentofIndia.
Sajeev isanother majorartiste performing awide variety ofroles. Otherartistes actively
engaged in performance at Margi are Sati and Usha along with Raman and Pothiyjl
Narayanan.
Percussionplaysavery importantroleinKuJiya!~amperformance.TheseniormiZal'u
drummer and instructor at Margi is Kalamandalam Unnikrishnan Nambiar who is
currently assisted by Ramanunni and Achuthanandan. The other percussion artistes at
Margi are Subramanyan Patti for Idakka and Mohanan for.Timila. Somadas renders
assistance as a make-up artist and costume designer under instruction from Guru
~ochukuttanChakyarand UnnikrishnanNambiar. The KiitiyattarnVidyalayarnofMargi
ISlocatednearaveryoldandfamous Shivatemple-theMahadevatempleofValiachalai.
