kathakaliatvarkala

Varkala is the only place in southern Kerala where one can find cliffs adjacent to the Arabian sea. These tertiary sedimentary formation cliffs are a unique geological feature in the otherwise flat Kerala coast, and is known among geologists as Varkala Formation and a geological monument as declared by the Geological survey of India. There are numerous water spouts and spas on the sides of these cliffs.
KATHAKALI AT VARKALA: kathakali emperor thottam sankaran namboothiripad presents kathakali in full by participating the famous actors, singers and musicians. Considering the traditional aspect of kathakali they also giving the introductions story description such that the program will be a very special one and will get popularity while presenting.
Thottam Gurusankaran Namboothiri was the Natya Guru of Indian dance father Udaya Sankar & Pdt.Sitar Ravisankar. Guruji was the creator of Natya Kathakali method. It is entirely different from ordinary kathakali methods. This method is vibrant with life and possessed of educative and research value. Kathakali emperor is the grandson of Guruji
Guru Thottam Shankaran Namboodiri, is the greatest Kathakali performer the countryhasproduced.

After his ‘Upanayanam’ (sacred thread ceremony) and the completion of his studies of Vedic texts and other religious scriptures, young Shankaran evinced keen interest in dance and drama, especially Kathakali, which was viewed with disapproval by his father, a learned Pandit. Shankaran, who became the first Brahmin to take to Kathakali, nevertheless started studying Kathakali surreptitiously. And two years later, much to the amazement and ire of his father, he appeared in a Kathakali rehearsal witnessed among othersbythefamilypatriarch.

For a good 15 years, Sankaran toured all over Malabar with the best of Kathakali troupes and won recognition from Kings, Princes, local chieftains and temples in the form of ‘Vira Shrinkhalas’, medals and gifts. Simultaneously, the Guru also studied other forms of dances and Sanskrit drama, which over the years enabled him to become the best exponent of his art.
The Guru was perhaps the sole perfect master of the technique of ‘Ekalochana’. ‘Ekalochana’ is a scene from the ‘Attakatha’ (the verse text for a Kathakali piece) named ‘utharaswayamvaram”
With the inception of the Uday Shankar India Culture Centre at Almora in 1938, the Guru moved to the Himalayan resort and consecrated the image of Lord Nataraja, the muse for traditional Indian artists. He taught Kathakali and expressions to Group members and students for eight months and spent the winter with his family in Kerala.

The Thottam family has now taken upon itself the noble task of popularizing Kathakali the world over with one of the grandsons of the late Guru, Thottam Shankaran Namboothiri setting up the Global Vedic Kathakali Centre in the tourist resort of Varkala, where foreigners and locals alike flock in large numbers throughout the year to get a glimpse of the great art inherited by him. He created history in 2001 at a programme at the Nehru Trophy Boat Race in Alappuzha by staging for the first time ever a sitting performance for the Sringara Pada (romantic song) for ‘Pacha Vesha’