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 This
is another form of dance drama, enacted in Guruvayoor Temple,
depicting the frolics and divinity of Lord Krishna. The Sree
Krishna Temple of Guruvayoor was absolutely owned and maintained
by the Zamourin of Kozhikode till the end of their empire
conquered by the British. One of the Zamourins, King Manavedan,
contemporary of Saint Vilwamangalam, a scholar and poet, was an
ardent devotee of Guruvayoor deity. He used to find time, even
amidst the tight schedules of governance, to spend few days in
devotion within the precincts of the temple. Saint Vilwamangalam
was very much in the temple and, it was known to all that he was
frequented by the sight of Sree Krishna alive. Zamourin pestered
the Saint with a queer request to show him also the lord live
during one of His secretive appearance to him. Once, while
walking out of the temple towards the 'Manjulal', the Banyan
tree named after a virgin devotee unified with the Lord, both of
them came across few children playing in the shade of it.
Vilwamangalam looked delighted and told "Lord, quick, look at
these children touching my body". Lo! It was a blissful sight of
lifetime for the King. He saw Krishna as a lad squatting on the
floor frolicking and playing with other children. The King could
not believe his eyes for a second. He lost control of himself,
in a sudden leap, jumped to the midst of the children and in a
whiff, embraced Krishna. The Lord Himself taken aback, chastised
him saying, "tut, tut, Vilwamangalam did not seek permission
from me for this" and wriggled Himself out of his caged arms. In
the melee, the King could pick a peacock quill the Lord adorned
his tuft. The King regarded this as a rare divine gift and made
a crown in gold to tuck quill on. By the frenzy caused of divine
touch, the King wrote a drama on Krishna and premiered it in
Guruvayoor Temple. The actor who played the role of Krishna was
adored with peacock quill crown. The legend is that the actor,
the moment he wore the crown, slipped into a godly mood and
acted in a superhuman manner making the play unexpectedly
successful. Lord Krishna Himself invested in him.
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The Krishnattam troupe was
once invited to perform in the Tripunithura temple. While the
show was on, certain mischievous characters brought a tusker in
front of the stage. On seeing it, actor characterizing Krishna
became angry and jumped down the stage, reached the animal and
caught hold of it by its two tusks. The scene became tense.
Elders and King himself intervened and pacified him, else it
could have been a fierce incident. The legend continues.
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Once the King Kerala Varma of
Kottarakkara requested Manavedan, Zamourin of Kozhikode to send
the Krishnanattam troupe to his palace for a performance.
Manavedan curtly rejected the request expressing that it is
meant to be staged only in the Guruvayoor temple and also that
the people of Southern Kerala have not yet grown intellectually
to understand and enjoy such an art form, citing the incident at
Tripunithura. Belittled and humiliated King vowed to retort and
immediately wrote Ramayanam in the Attakkadha fashion with
verses set to music and prose dialogues. He named it "Ramanattam",
opposing Krishnanattam, and wished to bring in all the pomp and
grandeur of Krishnanattam to it. He composed the entire
Ramayanam in eight volumes in Manipravalam style (form of poetic
composition in which words of Malayalam and Snaskrit are blended
indistinguishably like pearls and gems studded in a golden
necklace). It was a dance drama and the actors were given
special and tough training and rehearsals with rich costumes and
jewellery and premiered in the Kottarakkara palace. It could be
the ancestor of Kathakali for very many similarities in the
presentations, costumes, acting and background music could be
cited. The stage decor, costumes, make up, and mudras
(formulated hand gestures conveying the text of lyrics) as seen
today are improvements bestowed gradually to this art form by
two veteran Namboothiris, Kalladikkodan and Kaplingadan.
Centuries down, there developed a branch of literature known as
"Kathakali literature" and compositions of poet laureates like
Kottayath thampuran, Unnayi Warrier, Koyithampuran, Vayaskara
Mooss are milestones in the history of Kathakali.
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