Mani Madhava Chakyar

Mani Madhava Chakyar
was a celebrated master performance artist and Sanskrit scholar
from Kerala, India, considered to be the greatest Chakyar Koothu and Koodiyattam artist and authority of modern times. He was considered as the authority of Abhinaya and Nātyaśāstra.
Known as "the Emperor of Rasa-Abhinaya", he had an exceptional ability to perform Rasa-Abhinaya. His Netrābhinaya was world-famous and he had the ability to act only with eyes. He was well versed in all the traditional Koodiyattams and all the prabandhas used in Chakyar Koothu. He was able to explain the concepts, methods and practices of Koodiyattam and Chakyar Koothu in a clear and authentic way. He had an in depth study of Nātyaśāstra of Bharata Muni, as well as ways of acting which were popular in Kerala. His knowledge and mastery over both theory and practice of Koodiyattam were superb. He was a veteran teacher and practitioner of these art forms and Sanskrit.
He was the first one to take Koodiyattam and Chakyar Koothu outside the precincts of the temples of Kerala to all over India and to impart training in Kudiyattam to non-Chakyar disciples including foreigners. He had produced many disciples in Kutiyattam and other classical arts like Kathakali. He was a Sanskrit scholar and was used to give lectures and talks in Sanskrit.
He is the author of Nātyakalpadrumam – an encyclopaedic treatise on all aspects of Koodiyattam. He was a Fellow of national art academies including Sangeet Natak Akademi and recipient of coveted titles like "Nātyāchārya", "Vidūshakaratnam" and awards including Padma Shri and Sangeet Natak Akademi Award.

Early life and education

Mani Madhava Chakyar was born on 15 February 1899, in his ancestral home at Thiruvangayoor near Karayad,near Perambra of Kozhikode district of Kerala. His father was Vishnu Sarma and mother was Savithri Illotamma. He belonged to the Mani family of Chakyars of North Kerala, who for centuries have been the custodians of Koodiyattam – the traditional Sanskrit theatre - and Chakyar Koothu, another classical art form based on Sanskrit Champu Kavyas.
He trained in Chakyar Koothu and Koodiyattam in traditional way, under the direct guidance of his uncles who were great scholars and masters of these art forms. They were Guru Māni Parameswara Chakyar, Guru Māni Neelakandha Chakyar and Guru Māni Narayana Chakyar. He belonged to the "Mani" tradition of Koodiyattam and Chakyar Koothu which gives importance to both Rasa-abhinaya and Vachika-abhinaya.
Chakyar was a Sanskrit scholar and gave lectures in Sanskrit. He studied Alankarashastra, Nātyaśāstra, Vyakarana, Nyaya, Jyotisha, etc. in the traditional way, under scholars such as Panditaratnam Pazhedathu Sankaran Nampoothiripad. He was the student of Darsanakalanidhi Rama Varma Parikshith Thampuran. He had his higher studies in Nyayashastra and Natya Shastra under him. Chakyar taught Sanskrit at Balakollasini Sanskrita Pathasala of Killikkurussimangalam.
His first performance of Koodiyattam was at the age of 14 at Trikkaikkunnu Temple of North Kottayam of Malabar. He performed the huge number of Atiyantara koothus of Mani family in large number of temples stretching from Malabar to Thrissur. It consist of all devotional ritualistic Koothus and Kudiyattams including Anguliyanka, Mattavilasa Prahasana, Mantranka, Ezhamanka about eight decades continuously in temples of Kerala. It includes ancient Kerala temples such as Matayikkavu Bhagavathi Temple of Kannoor, Taliparamba Rajarajeshwara Temple, Kottiyoor Perumal Temple, Lokanarkavu Temple of Vatakara, Thali Siva Temple of Kozhikode, Thirunavaya Navamukunda temple, Thiruvegappura Sree Mahadeva Temple, Pandamangalam Krishna temple of Kottakkal, Kotakkal Vishwambhara temple, Kallekkulagara Emoor Siva temple, Triprayar Sri Rama temple, Peruvanam Shiva temple of Cherpu, Avittathur Shiva Temple etc. Chakyar won high renown for the artistry of his performance in these temples, as well as in many others.
He married P. K. Kunjimalu Nangiaramma, the daughter of his uncle, Mani Parameshwara Chakyar. She was an exponent in female characters of Kudiyattams and Nangiǎr Kūthu and various Ragas and Shlokas used for the art form. She used to accompany him in the performances.

Master of Rasa-Abhinaya

He is considered as the all-time great master of Rasa-abhinaya with special reference to Netrābhinaya. He was exceptionally well in the field of Satwika-Abhinaya. He is considered as "one of the most wonderful theatre actors of the last century".
He was known for his roles like Ravana, Arjuna, Udayana, Jeemootavahana etc.
His abhinaya of Kailasoddhārana and Pārvatī Viraha, enriched with the Netrabinaya and Pakarnnaattam – Abhinaya, were widely acclaimed.
He was known for the abhinaya of the slokas like "sikhinishalabham.." of the play Subhadradhananjayam by playing it with mere eyes. He was able to act in detail the Moths falling in and out of the lamp fire by evoking his Netrabhinaya, with assigning different rasa's for female moth, male moth and the fire. Guru's Abhinaya of the shloka smaramyavandhyadhipateh sutayah from Bhasa's Swapnavasawadattam is also widely acclaimed one.

Reforming the art form

In 1949 he performed Chakyar Koothu for All India Radio, which was the first time the art was performed outside Koothambalam. In 1955, under his leadership, Kutiyattam was performed outside the temple for the first time in his village at Killikkurussimangalam. For performing the art forms outside the temples he faced lot of objections from the Chakyar community. In an interview, he remembered
In 1962, under the leadership of V. Raghavan- an art and Sanskrit scholar - Sanskrit Ranga of Madras invited Chakyar to perform Kutiyattam there. This was the first time Kutiyattam was performed outside Kerala by his troupe.
They performed at Madras on three nights, showing Kutiyattam scenes from three plays: Abhiṣeka, Subhadrādhanañjaya and Nāgānanda.
Chakyar's performance made great impact on the people and art critics so that the artform and Chakyar himself became known outside Kerala. He was then invited to perform Kutiyattam at various places in North India during 1964, such as New Delhi and Banaras.
After Chakyar's first tour to New Delhi, he was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1964 for his contributions to Chakyar Koothu and Kutiyattam. This was his first national recognition.
He performed Kudiyattam all over India and popularised the same. He along with his troop did Koodiyattam performance in places like Madras, Madhura, New Delhi, Varanasi, Bombay, Ujjain, Bhopal etc.
The President of India, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, invited him to perform Kutiyattam at Rashtrapati Bhavan in 1964 and was impressed by his exceptional acting skill. His Kutiyattam performances, lectures and demonstrations at well-known centres such as the Madras Music Academy, the International Centre for Kathakali in New Delhi, the Experimental Theatre in New Delhi and Bombay and the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Bombay brought him wide popularity and recognition.
He choreographed and directed acts of the plays like Kalidasa's Abhijñānaśākuntala, Vikramorvaśīya and Mālavikāgnimitra; Bhasa's Swapnavāsavadatta and Pancharātra; Harsha's Nagananda for the first time in the history of Koodiyattam. He along with his troupe performed these Kutiyattams all over India.
When his guru, Rama Varma Parikshith Thampuran, wrote a new Sanskrit champu prabandha called Prahlādacharita and requested senior artists to study and perform the same on the Chakyar Koothu stage, they said it was impossible for them to stage such a new prabandha. Then Thampuran asked Chakyar, who was then a comparatively young artist, to try. He agreed and studied a part of the prabandha within one night and performed the same on the next day at Tripunithura – the then capital of Cochin state. The incident made the scholars to accept his mastery over both Sanskrit and the classical art form. After some months, he performed entire Prahlādacharita at the same stage.
He performed Chakyar Koothu and Koodiyattam for All India Radio and Doordarshan for the first time, which helped to attract thousands of listeners to these traditional art forms. It was he who started demonstrations in Kudiyattam to popularise the same.

Teaching

He is considered the greatest guru of Kutiyattam of the modern times, producing many accomplished disciples. He taught Koodiyattam for the first time to a non-Chakyar – Nambiar caste member. He was a Polish student named Maria Christopher Byrski, who was then a research student at Banaras Hindu University, came to study the only surviving ancient Sanskrit drama Koodiyattam, from Guru around the early 1960s. He stayed at Guru Mani Madhava Chakyar's home and studied Koodiyattam in its traditional Gurukula way. Lot of research scholars came to study the Sanskrit drama from the ultimate exponent of Kutiyattam and Abhinaya Mani Madhava Cakyar. Dr. Farley Richmond, noted Sanskrit drama scholar also studied about the ancient Sanskrit art form under Mani Madhava Chakyar by staying at his home at Killikkurussimangalam. He had filmed Rasa Abhinaya and Kutiyattam of the maestro. Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay of All-India Handicrafts Board came to Guru Maani Madhava Cakyar's home to do research about the costumes used in Kutiyattam . Indian theatre scholar Goverdhan Panjal studied about Koothambalams and Kutiyattam under the Guru.
When Kerala Kalamandalam was founded by Vallathol Narayana Menon, he invited authority of Rasa-abhinaya, Mani Madhava Chakyar as the master trainer for Rasa-abhinaya to the Kathakali students. Later Kathakali Yogam- Katathandu, Kerala Kalamandalam, PSV Natyasangham- Kottakkal and Gandhi Seva Sadanam Kathakali Academy- Perur used his services as visiting professor of Rasa-abhinaya and taught advanced students in Kathakali and Kutiyattam.
He is known as "the master who gave eyes to Kathakali". His influence on the classical performing arts of Kerala is famous. Many Koodiyattam, Kathakali, Bharatanatyam and Mohiniyattam artists were trained by this great master.
Kathakali artists including legendary Kalamandalam Krishnan Nair, Guru Kelu Nair, Guru Anand Shivram, Guru Kalamandalam Madhavan, Guru Gopinath, Sadanam Krishnankutty are his disciples.
Guru, who was an eminent teacher and performer opened a Gurukulam in 1982 for teaching Kutiyattam, Chakyar Koothu, Nangyar Koothu and related art forms at Killikkurussimangalam. After Guru's death it was named as Padmasree Mani Madhava Chakyar Smaraka Gurukulam in memory of the Guru. This institution still keeps its tradition and plays a major role in Kutiyattam teaching, revival and performance.
Guru, who had dedicated his life to Kutiyattam was concerned about the fate of this classical art form. Māni Mādhava Chākyār's conversation with famous Bharatanatyam dancer Rukmini Devi Arundale, when she visited Guru at his residence a year before his death, reflects his anxiety