Kathakali, a dance-drama from Kerala, is often recognized first by its painted faces. The make-up is one part of a system in which text, gesture, expression and percussion each carry part of the story.
The actors do not speak
As a rule, Kathakali actors do not speak or sing their lines. The text of a play, the attakatha, is sung by two vocalists standing behind the actors. The lead singer, the ponnani, keeps time on the chengila, a gong, and the second singer, the shinkidi, plays the ilathalam, a pair of cymbals. Most of the drama unfolds in padams, dialogue songs often built like a Carnatic composition in pallavi, anupallavi and charanam. The singers usually repeat a verse until the actor has rendered the whole of it in gesture.
Hands and face
The actor’s words are carried by the hasta mudras, hand gestures codified in the Hastalakshana Deepika, a manual of unknown authorship. Twenty-four basic mudras give rise to many more. The writer K. Madhavan Nair compared this to Carnatic ragas derived from a parent scale. Training gives special weight to the eyes: while the hands convey the words, the face shows the character’s inner state.
Make-up as a code
Make-up and costume, together called vesham, identify a character before a gesture is made. Broadly, pacha (green) marks noble heroes such as Krishna and Rama. Kathi (knife) adds a red, knife-shaped mark and white knobs to the green base, for a high-born but arrogant and violent figure such as Ravana. Thadi (beard) types are told apart by color. A red beard marks a fierce, aggressive figure such as Bali, a white beard a higher being such as Hanuman, and a black beard, karutha thadi, is associated with hunters and forest dwellers. Kari (black) marks demonic or terrifying figures, and minukku, with a softer, yellowish face, is used for women and sages.
The shape of an evening
Kathakali was traditionally performed through the night. The kelikottu, drumming on chenda and maddalam, announced a performance in the evening. Preliminary items followed, including the purappad, in which characters from the first play appear in full costume, and the melappadam, a showcase for drummers and singers. A full night commonly held two or three plays. Today most performances run a few hours. Throughout, the drums set the tempo, playing heavier for fast, fearsome characters.
If a synopsis is available, read it first. It makes each line easier to follow, from the singers to the actor’s hands. For another dance from Kerala, see Mohiniyattam Beyond the Usual Adjectives.
For short introductions to Kathakali and other forms, see Meet the Art Forms.
Image: A Kathakali actor, 2009. CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
