Moods and magic

TRIPUNITHURA: Seventy-three year old Sarojini Nangiaramma reverentially bows before the circular ‘mizhavu’ - a giant drum-like vessel - and starts her performance of the Shri Krishna Charitham as part of the nangiar koothu’(dance drama) at the Poornathrayeesha Temple. “This performance is purely for the almighty of the temple,” she says.From time immemorial, the traditional nangiar koothu has been performed in temples. Though the ‘koothambalam’(stage) of Poornathrayeesha Temple is just a miniature form of the actual one at the Thrissur Vadakkumnathan temple and Irinjalakuda Koodalmanikya temple, it has all the features of a typical koothambalam, Nangiaramma says. ‘Koothambalam’ gets life only on eight days in a year, during the Moossari Ulsavam. “We usually present Sree Krishna Charitham ‘nangiar koothu’ every year,” says Ramachandran Nambiar, son of Sarojini Nangiaramma, who plays the ‘mizhavu’. “Each year we perform one portion of an epic. This year we are presenting the story of Kamsa,” he adds.Similar type of ritualistic staging of nagiar koothu is also performed at other temples like Pazhayannoor Thiruvillwamala and Thirumandhamkunnu. The female members of the Nambiar family have been performing this  divine dance form, without caring much for the negligible remuneration allotted to them by the Devaswam Board. “All we think about is not to let this dance form languish. Remuneration is not so important,” says Sarojini who has been performing the dance since the last several decades.The ritualistic nangaiar koothu is an essential programme during ‘moossari ulsavam’ which concludes with the holy ‘araattu’(final day of the festival) at the temple pond on the Thiruvonam day.