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Terukkuttu

February 16, 2024

Terukkuttu is a Tamil street theatre form practised in Tamil Nadu state of India and Tamil-speaking regions of Sri Lanka.[1] Terukuttu is a form of entertainment, a ritual, and a medium of social instruction.[2] The terukkuttu plays various themes. One theme is from the Tamil language versions of the Hindu epic Mahabharata, focusing on the character Draupadi.[3] The terms Terukkuttu and Kattaikkuttu are often used interchangeably in the modern times; however, historically the two terms appear to have distinguished, at least in certain villages, between two different kinds of performance: while Terukkuttu referred to mobile performances in a procession, Kattaikkuttu denotes overnight, narrative performances at a fixed performance space.[4]

Dharumar @Therukkuthu

History edit

The term terukkuttu is derived from the Tamil words Teru ("street") and Kuttu ("theatre").[5] The word "Kattaikkuttu" is derived from the name of special ornaments known as kattai (or kattai camankal).

The writer M. Shanmugam Pillai has compared terukkuttu to the Tamil epic Silappatikaram, calling Silappatikaram a proto-form of terukkuttu. The Silappatikaram story is still performed by the terukkuttu actors, the terukkuttu drama commences and ends in a manner similar to the commencement and end of each canto in the epic, and the actors sing and converse in verse interspersed with prose, the prose coming after the verse as its explanation. Both Silappatikaram and terukkuttu are centered around the chastity and moral power of women as cherished values.[2]

However, historically, the terukkuttu is not more than two to three centuries old.[2] The researcher Richard A. Frasca wrote that certain of his performer-informants believed that the terukkuttu originally emanated from the Gingee area.[6] It spread from South India to Sri Lanka, and became popular in Jaffna and Batticaloa. The early Sinhala Nadagam (open-air drama) closely followed Terukuttu plays in presentation and in style.[7] The Jesuit priests in Jaffna also presented Catholic plays from the Portuguese tradition in Terukuttu style.[8]

Many scholars note the similarity between terukkuttu and other neighbouring regional drama forms, such as Yakshagana and Kathakali.[9] However, unlike Kathakali, terukkuttu is less codified, and is generally considered a folk art rather than a classical art form.[10] In recent times, some terukkuttu groups have also started operating as professional troupes.[11]

Theme edit

Many terukuttu performances center around the enactment of Mahabharata story, with emphasis on the role of Draupadi. Terukkuttu plays on Ramayana are performed at Mariyamman festivals, and some of the plays also involve local deities.[9]

The terukkuttu plays form part of ritual celebrations including the twenty-one day temple festival starting in Chittirai, the first month of the Tamil calendar.[2] The terukkuttu performances begin in the middle of the festival, and continue till the morning of the penultimate day.

The core themes of the terukuttu plays include:

  • Draupadi Kalyanam (The marriage of Draupadi)
  • Supattirai Kalyanam (The marriage of Subhadra)
  • Alli Arjunan (The Marriage of Arjuna with Alli)
  • Pancal Capatam (The Vow of Draupadi)
  • Arjunan Tapam (Arjuna's tapas)
  • Krishnan Titu (The mission of Krishna)
  • Abhimanyu Cantai (The defeat of Abhimanyu)
  • Karna Mokshayam (The defeat of Karna)
  • Patinettam Por (The Battle of the Eighteenth Day)
  • Aravan kalappali ("Sacrifice of Aravan in the Battlefield")[12]

Style edit

The terukkuttu plays are a combination of song, music, dance and drama along with "clever stage tricks".[13] The actors wear colorful costumes. The musical instruments used by the terukkuttu musicians include harmonium, drums, a mukhavinai (an instrument similar to oboe), and cymbals.

An acting arena is marked at courtyard of a temple, open ground or any other convenient site and people squat on the three sides of the rectangular arena. The chorus of singers and the musicians occupy the place on the rear side of the stage, and the actors use the front side. Two persons holding a curtain enter the arena, with an actor in the guise of Ganesha, the elephant-headed Hindu god. The chorus begins an invocation to Ganesha, and prayers are also offered to many other deities. The actor playing Ganesha now moves out of the arena, and Kattiyakkaran (jester and sutradhara i.e. the narrator) appears on the stage. Kattiyakkaran relates the story of the play to be performed and introduces the characters. Sometimes, the characters introduce themselves. Kattiyakkaran links the scenes, provides context to the happenings on the stage and also jests in between the scenes. The actors sing themselves, supported by the chorus.

The text of a terukkuttu play is a series of songs related by a theme. Each song is rendered in a raga, structured in form of a classical song. It is preceded by viruttam, chanting of four-line verses in the same raga as the song.[14] After the song, an actor delivers a speech based on it.

The French theater group, Théâtre du Soleil, used elements of Terukuttu, including the two stories The Vow of Draupadi, and The defeat of Karna in their play, A Room in India.[13]

References edit

  1. ^ Sarachchandra, Ediriweera R. (1966). The Folk Drama of Ceylon. Colombo: Department of Cultural Affairs, Ceylon. p. 116. OCLC 63859810.
  2. ^ a b c d Varadpande, Manohar Laxman (1990) [1987]. History of Indian Theatre. Abhinav Publications. pp. 39–44. ISBN 978-81-7017-278-9. OCLC 18270064.
  3. ^ Srinivas, Smriti (2004) [2001]. Landscapes of Urban Memory. Orient Longman. p. 23. ISBN 81-250-2254-6. OCLC 46353272.
  4. ^ Bruin, Hanne M de (1999). Kattaikkuttu: The flexibility of a south Indian theatre tradition. E. Forsten. pp. 85–99. ISBN 978-90-6980-103-2. OCLC 42312297.
  5. ^ Barfoot, C.C. (1993). Theatre Intercontinental: Forms, Functions, Correspondences. Rodopi. p. 116. ISBN 90-5183-575-2. OCLC 29909259.
  6. ^ Frasca, Richard Armando (1984). The Terukkūttu : ritual theater of Tamilnadu (Ph.D. thesis). University of California, Berkeley. p. 140. OCLC 13876271.
  7. ^ W. T. A. Leslie Fernando (24 December 2003). . Archived from the original on 23 March 2004. Retrieved 21 November 2007.
  8. ^ W. T. A. Leslie Fernando. "Did Sinhala drama originate in Christmas?". Retrieved 21 November 2007.
  9. ^ a b Hiltebeitel, Alf (1988). The Cult of Draupadi: Mythologies: From Gingee to Kuruksetra. University Of Chicago Press. pp. 146–149. ISBN 978-0-226-34046-3. OCLC 18739841.
  10. ^ Richmond, Farley P.; Darius L. Swann; Phillip B. Zarrilli (1993) [1990]. Indian Theatre: Traditions of Performance. Motilal Banarsidass. p. 309. ISBN 978-0-8248-1322-2. OCLC 20594132.
  11. ^ "From Street Theater to Kattaikuttu". 4 November 1999. Retrieved 21 November 2007.
  12. ^ Symbol of sacrifice: Online edition of The Hindu, 17 August 2001
  13. ^ a b Green, Jesse (6 December 2017). "Review: 'A Room in India' Overflows With Astonishing Visions". The New York Times.
  14. ^ edited by Stanley Sadie. (1980). "Introduction to Indian Music: Folk Music". The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-1-56159-174-9. {{cite book}}: |author= has generic name (help)

Further reading edit

  • Frasca, Richard Armando (1990). Theatre of the Mahabharata: terukkuttu Performances in South India. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 978-0-8248-1290-4. OCLC 21147946.
  • Gentes, Mary Josephine (1987). Hinduism through village dance drama : narrative image and ritual process in South India's terukkuttu and Yaksagana ritual theaters (Ph.D. thesis). University of Virginia. OCLC 20052719.
  • Frasca, Richard Armando (1998). "The Dice Game and the Disrobing (Pakatai Tuyil): A terukkuttu Performance". Asian Theatre Journal. University of Hawai'i Press. 15 (1): 1–44. doi:10.2307/1124097. JSTOR 1124097.
  • Bruin, Hanne M de (1999). Kattaikkuttu: The flexibility of a south Indian theatre tradition. E. Forsten. ISBN 978-90-6980-103-2. OCLC 42312297.
  • Shivaprakash, H S (2007). "Regional theatres (ix. Terukuttu)". Traditional theatres. Wisdom Tree. ISBN 978-81-8328-075-4. OCLC 85833550.

External links edit


    February 16, 2024
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Terukkuttu is a Tamil street theatre form practised in Tamil Nadu state of India and Tamil speaking regions of Sri Lanka 1 Terukuttu is a form of entertainment a ritual and a medium of social instruction 2 The terukkuttu plays various themes One theme is from the Tamil language versions of the Hindu epic Mahabharata focusing on the character Draupadi 3 The terms Terukkuttu and Kattaikkuttu are often used interchangeably in the modern times however historically the two terms appear to have distinguished at least in certain villages between two different kinds of performance while Terukkuttu referred to mobile performances in a procession Kattaikkuttu denotes overnight narrative performances at a fixed performance space 4 Dharumar Therukkuthu Contents 1 History 2 Theme 3 Style 4 References 5 Further reading 6 External linksHistory editThe term terukkuttu is derived from the Tamil words Teru street and Kuttu theatre 5 The word Kattaikkuttu is derived from the name of special ornaments known as kattai or kattai camankal The writer M Shanmugam Pillai has compared terukkuttu to the Tamil epic Silappatikaram calling Silappatikaram a proto form of terukkuttu The Silappatikaram story is still performed by the terukkuttu actors the terukkuttu drama commences and ends in a manner similar to the commencement and end of each canto in the epic and the actors sing and converse in verse interspersed with prose the prose coming after the verse as its explanation Both Silappatikaram and terukkuttu are centered around the chastity and moral power of women as cherished values 2 However historically the terukkuttu is not more than two to three centuries old 2 The researcher Richard A Frasca wrote that certain of his performer informants believed that the terukkuttu originally emanated from the Gingee area 6 It spread from South India to Sri Lanka and became popular in Jaffna and Batticaloa The early Sinhala Nadagam open air drama closely followed Terukuttu plays in presentation and in style 7 The Jesuit priests in Jaffna also presented Catholic plays from the Portuguese tradition in Terukuttu style 8 Many scholars note the similarity between terukkuttu and other neighbouring regional drama forms such as Yakshagana and Kathakali 9 However unlike Kathakali terukkuttu is less codified and is generally considered a folk art rather than a classical art form 10 In recent times some terukkuttu groups have also started operating as professional troupes 11 Theme editMany terukuttu performances center around the enactment of Mahabharata story with emphasis on the role of Draupadi Terukkuttu plays on Ramayana are performed at Mariyamman festivals and some of the plays also involve local deities 9 The terukkuttu plays form part of ritual celebrations including the twenty one day temple festival starting in Chittirai the first month of the Tamil calendar 2 The terukkuttu performances begin in the middle of the festival and continue till the morning of the penultimate day The core themes of the terukuttu plays include Draupadi Kalyanam The marriage of Draupadi Supattirai Kalyanam The marriage of Subhadra Alli Arjunan The Marriage of Arjuna with Alli Pancal Capatam The Vow of Draupadi Arjunan Tapam Arjuna s tapas Krishnan Titu The mission of Krishna Abhimanyu Cantai The defeat of Abhimanyu Karna Mokshayam The defeat of Karna Patinettam Por The Battle of the Eighteenth Day Aravan kalappali Sacrifice of Aravan in the Battlefield 12 Style editThe terukkuttu plays are a combination of song music dance and drama along with clever stage tricks 13 The actors wear colorful costumes The musical instruments used by the terukkuttu musicians include harmonium drums a mukhavinai an instrument similar to oboe and cymbals An acting arena is marked at courtyard of a temple open ground or any other convenient site and people squat on the three sides of the rectangular arena The chorus of singers and the musicians occupy the place on the rear side of the stage and the actors use the front side Two persons holding a curtain enter the arena with an actor in the guise of Ganesha the elephant headed Hindu god The chorus begins an invocation to Ganesha and prayers are also offered to many other deities The actor playing Ganesha now moves out of the arena and Kattiyakkaran jester and sutradhara i e the narrator appears on the stage Kattiyakkaran relates the story of the play to be performed and introduces the characters Sometimes the characters introduce themselves Kattiyakkaran links the scenes provides context to the happenings on the stage and also jests in between the scenes The actors sing themselves supported by the chorus The text of a terukkuttu play is a series of songs related by a theme Each song is rendered in a raga structured in form of a classical song It is preceded by viruttam chanting of four line verses in the same raga as the song 14 After the song an actor delivers a speech based on it The French theater group Theatre du Soleil used elements of Terukuttu including the two stories The Vow of Draupadi and The defeat of Karna in their play A Room in India 13 References edit Sarachchandra Ediriweera R 1966 The Folk Drama of Ceylon Colombo Department of Cultural Affairs Ceylon p 116 OCLC 63859810 a b c d Varadpande Manohar Laxman 1990 1987 History of Indian Theatre Abhinav Publications pp 39 44 ISBN 978 81 7017 278 9 OCLC 18270064 Srinivas Smriti 2004 2001 Landscapes of Urban Memory Orient Longman p 23 ISBN 81 250 2254 6 OCLC 46353272 Bruin Hanne M de 1999 Kattaikkuttu The flexibility of a south Indian theatre tradition E Forsten pp 85 99 ISBN 978 90 6980 103 2 OCLC 42312297 Barfoot C C 1993 Theatre Intercontinental Forms Functions Correspondences Rodopi p 116 ISBN 90 5183 575 2 OCLC 29909259 Frasca Richard Armando 1984 The Terukkuttu ritual theater of Tamilnadu Ph D thesis University of California Berkeley p 140 OCLC 13876271 W T A Leslie Fernando 24 December 2003 Daily Mirror Archived from the original on 23 March 2004 Retrieved 21 November 2007 W T A Leslie Fernando Did Sinhala drama originate in Christmas Retrieved 21 November 2007 a b Hiltebeitel Alf 1988 The Cult of Draupadi Mythologies From Gingee to Kuruksetra University Of Chicago Press pp 146 149 ISBN 978 0 226 34046 3 OCLC 18739841 Richmond Farley P Darius L Swann Phillip B Zarrilli 1993 1990 Indian Theatre Traditions of Performance Motilal Banarsidass p 309 ISBN 978 0 8248 1322 2 OCLC 20594132 From Street Theater to Kattaikuttu 4 November 1999 Retrieved 21 November 2007 1 Symbol of sacrifice Online edition of The Hindu 17 August 2001 a b Green Jesse 6 December 2017 Review A Room in India Overflows With Astonishing Visions The New York Times edited by Stanley Sadie 1980 Introduction to Indian Music Folk Music The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians Oxford University Press ISBN 978 1 56159 174 9 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a author has generic name help Further reading editFrasca Richard Armando 1990 Theatre of the Mahabharata terukkuttu Performances in South India University of Hawaii Press ISBN 978 0 8248 1290 4 OCLC 21147946 Gentes Mary Josephine 1987 Hinduism through village dance drama narrative image and ritual process in South India s terukkuttu and Yaksagana ritual theaters Ph D thesis University of Virginia OCLC 20052719 Frasca Richard Armando 1998 The Dice Game and the Disrobing Pakatai Tuyil A terukkuttu Performance Asian Theatre Journal University of Hawai i Press 15 1 1 44 doi 10 2307 1124097 JSTOR 1124097 Bruin Hanne M de 1999 Kattaikkuttu The flexibility of a south Indian theatre tradition E Forsten ISBN 978 90 6980 103 2 OCLC 42312297 Shivaprakash H S 2007 Regional theatres ix Terukuttu Traditional theatres Wisdom Tree ISBN 978 81 8328 075 4 OCLC 85833550 External links editKattaikkuttu or terukkuttu Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Terukkuttu amp oldid 1095585089, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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