Two Masterpieces of Kūṭiyāṭṭam

Mantrāṅkam and Aṅgulīyāṅkam

Edited by Heike Oberlin and David Shulman

This volume is an in-depth study of the two major, most complex and ancient works in Kerala's Sanskrit theatre, Kutiyattam, the acts known as 'Anguliyankam' and 'Mantrankam'.
The book includes essays by actor-performers and also those by scholars of the tradition; in the process the reader has access both to important technicalities of the two performance texts and to interpretations of what these great works are trying to say.
This unique volume will be of interest to readers eager to learn about the last living tradition of Sanskrit theatre. These studies contribute in their own way to the ongoing vitality of Kutiyattam in its active performances sites in Kerala and abroad.

Two Masterpieces of Kūṭiyāṭṭam

Mantrāṅkam and Aṅgulīyāṅkam

Edited by Heike Oberlin and David Shulman

Description

Kutiyattam, India's only living traditional Sanskrit theatre, has been continually performed in Kerala for at least a thousand years. The actors and drummers create an entire world in the empty space of the stage by using spectacular costumes and make-up and by an immensely rich interplay of words, rhythms, mime, and gestures.

This volume focuses on Mantrankam and Anguliyankam, the two great masterpieces of Kutiyattam. It provides fundamental general remarks and relates them to pan-Indian reflections on aesthetics, philology, ritual studies, and history. Authored by scholars and active Kutiyattam performers, this is the first attempt to bring together a set of sustained, multi-faceted interpretations of these masterpieces-in-performance. With an aim to open up this ancient art form to readers interested in South Indian culture, religion, theatre and performance studies, philology as well as literature, this volume offers a new way to access a major art form of pre-modern and modern Kerala.

Two Masterpieces of Kūṭiyāṭṭam

Mantrāṅkam and Aṅgulīyāṅkam

Edited by Heike Oberlin and David Shulman

Foreword, K.K. Gopalakrishan
Introduction, Heike Oberlin and David Shulman
Opening Up
1:Anguliyankam and Mantrankam : Two Wondrous Crest Jewels of Kutiyattam, Sudha Gopalakrishnan
2:Some Remarks on the Ascaryacudamani : Reflections, Reflexivity, and Wonder, Lyne Bansat-Boudon
Mantrankam
3:Mantrankam, an Ancient Integration Project? Its Structure and Composition, Heike Oberlin
4:What is Mantrankam?, David Shulman
5:Pracchana Barhaspatyam : Irony and Illusion, Reality, Reflection, and Play in Mantrankam, Orly Hadani Nave
6:Reflection and Arul: Creating Siva on the Kutiyattam Stage, Hemdat Salay
7:Vasantaka: Personal Considerations from Within the Practice, Indu G.
8:Mantrankam : An Arena for Experimentation, Elena Mucciarelli
9:The Mantrankam Paribhasa from a Historical Linguistics Perspective, Ophira Gamliel
10:Tying the Universe: The Interplay of Veda and Kutiyattam with Special Reference to Mantrankam, Elena Mucciarelli and Heike Oberlin
Anguliyankam
11:Anguliyankam, Ramayana-Veda of the Cakyars, Virginie Johan
12:Anguliyankam : The Natyaveda of Kutiyattam, P.K.M. Bhadra and Rajneesh B.
13:The World of Hanuman: Creating a Fluid Cosmos on a Kerala Kutiyattam Stage, Einat Bar-On Cohen
14:Distinct Conventions in the Staging of Anguliyankam Kuttu, Ammannur Kuttan Chakyar and Aparna Nangiar
Tying Up
15:My Experience of Performing Anguliyankam and Mantrankam, Margi Madhu Chakyar
16:Knowing and Being: Kutiyattam and Its Semantic Universe, Manu V. Devadevan
17:An Actor in Red and White: The Cakyar Community and the Early Manipravalam Corpus, Sivan Goren Arzony
Note on the Contributors
Index

Two Masterpieces of Kūṭiyāṭṭam

Mantrāṅkam and Aṅgulīyāṅkam

Edited by Heike Oberlin and David Shulman

Author Information

Edited by Heike Oberlin, Associate Professor, University of Tübingen, and David Shulman, Professor Emeritus, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Heike Oberlin is Associate Professor, Department of Indology, University of Tübingen, Germany.

David Shulman is Professor Emeritus, Department of Asian Studies, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel.

Contributors:

Sudha Gopalakrishnan
Lyne Bansat-Boudon
Orly Hadani Nave
Hemdat Salay
Indu G.
Elena Mucciarelli
Ophira Gamliel
Virginie Johan
Bhadra P.K.M.
Rajneesh B.
Einat Bar-On Cohen
Ammannur Kuttan
Chakyar
Aparna Nangiar
Madhu Margi Chakyar
Manu V. Devadevan
Sivan Goren Arzony