Lord Ayyappa gets a Latin avatar

KOCHI: It is Christmas as well as the culminating 41st day of Sabarimala’s mandala season, and exponents of Chavittunatakam, an indigenous Christian art form, will depict Lord Ayyappa in an unconventional manner. For the first time, exponents of Chavittunatakam are breaking away from the traditional repertoire of Christian legends and are experimenting with Indian mythology, particularly Hindu legends.
The play titled Sabarimala Dharama Shasthavu is directed by Joseph Salim and will be staged on Friday as part of Chuvati Fest 2014, being held along with Kochi Muziris Biennale, at Gothuruthu.
Chavittunatakam is one of India’s ancient maritime theatre art forms, and is an amalgamation of European operatic tradition brought in by Portuguese Christian missionaries and Kerala’s martial arts and dramas. It uses operatic costumes along with the abhinaya unique to Indian performing arts.
“Instead of adhering to the custom of using lyrics or text in Centamil (classical Tamil), the plays staged in the fest will be a combination of Malayalam and Tamil,” said Chummar Kunjappan of Chavittunataka Academy of Gothuruthu.

Chavittunatakam is one of India’s ancient maritime theatre art forms, and is an amalgamation of European operatic tradition brought in by Portuguese Christian missionaries and Kerala’s martial arts and dramas.
Keli Ramachandran, curator of KMB’14 performing arts festival, said that the aim of organising ‘Chuvati’ was to unveil the antiquity and charm of Chavittunatakam. “The effort is to also expand the repertoire of this Latin Catholic folk art even while conserving its heritage that has evolved along a strip of coastal Kerala,” he said. The Chuvati fest will stage five plays from December 26-30 at Chinnathampi Annavi square.