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In the Footsteps of the Chakyars: India's Venerable Sanskrit Theater |
| Section: THE ARTS / THEATER |
| Author: Shoba S. Rajgopal |
| Publication:
The World & I Online |
| Issue Date: 2/1/1998 |
| Size: 1,635 Words, 9,999 Characters |
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India's skies were overcast the morning we caught the bus to Irinjalakuda from Trichur, and by the time we arrived at the sleepy little town in central Kerala, sheets of rain pelted down, sealing the bus off from the rest of the world. Armed with our umbrellas, we set off down the winding road that led from the market to the ancient Kudalmanickyam temple, the landmark we had been given.
Skirting the moss-green walls that encircled the temple pond, we paused to ask if we were headed in the right direction to the Chakyar Madhom, the homestead of the Chakyars. A lined, weather-beaten face stared curiously back at us and nodded. "Straight on," said the man, who wore a cotton shirt and a cream-colored dhoti, the garment favored by the men of Kerala, loosely knotted at the knees. "Just follow that cyclist."
So that is how we arrived at the Sanskrit theater of Kerala, the current site of Kudiyattam, the oldest surviving classical theater in the world. The state of Kerala lies in the sou...
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...e bus stand, the cars and buses that whizzed by seemed suddenly irrelevant. What lingered within our minds was that glimpse of timelessness preserved within the simple thatch-roofed theater at the Ammanur gurukulam, which reverberated within that still center in ourselves--the essence of art and theater in India--Om: "the eternal word ... what was, what is and what shall be, beyond eternity."
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Publication Details
(The World & I Online) |
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The World & I Online is a
comprehensive academic resource that encompasses a broad range of
articles by scholars and experts in the areas of Global Studies,
Liberal Arts, Fine & Applied Arts, General Science, and Spanish.
Originally published monthly in print as The World & I, our site
includes the complete contents since 1986 and continues to publish
a new issue online each month. |
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