Devaki, a 12-year-old from Nelluvai village in Thrissur district, applied for admission to study classical dance at Kerala Kalamandalam in 1960. But her application was rejected as she was found to be over the age limit, by a few months. Terribly disappointed, along with her father Bhagavathar Kadambur Damodaran Nair, Devaki was on her way out when they encountered stalwart Krishnankutty Pothuval, who recognised Bhagavathar. Noticing their plight, the mentor of many an artiste, asked the timid youngster: “Are you inclined to learn Ottanthullal?”
She was slightly confused, for a while, at least. But Pothuval appended an expectant statement too to his query: “If you are smart enough, you can learn dance too.” That turned out to be a momentous moment. Devaki joined Kerala Kalamandalam as its first female student of Thullal, four years after the subject was introduced (1956) in the curriculum. She had her debut in 1961 itself, presenting the episode ‘Paatracharitham’.
Devaki was fortunate to have systematic training in acting-cum-dancing under Malabar Kannan Nair (a direct disciple of Thullal maestro Malabar Raman Nair) and Kalamandalam Divakaran Nair.
Classes in music and literature given by NKV Dev and Kummini Vasudevan Nambudiri also benefitted her substantially. The atmosphere of music in Devaki’s tharavadu, widely known as Vaduthala Nair Veedu, where a number of children learnt from her father, the training she received in semi-classical dance prior to joining Kalamandalam and in presenting Poothana’s role in Kathakali from Kalamandalam Sundaranarayanan and Kalamandalam Sankaranarayanan, respectively, embellished her Thullal, appropriately, raising it to an extraordinary level of aesthetics. Impressed by her dedication to art, the doyen Ramankutty Nair Asan offered her special training in Kathakali and arranged prestigious venues for her performance. Her maiden Kathakali performance was as Lalitha in ‘Kirmiravadham’; once she donned the role of Kesini, as a co-actor of titans in the field such as Kalamandalam Krishnan Nair and Kottakkal Sivaraman. But her most applauded role was of Poothana. In Kalamandalam, Chinnammu Amma, the famous exponent-cum-teacher of Mohiniyattam, also gave her lessons in the art form.
The name Devaki came to be synonymous with Thullal of the Kalamandalam style, which imbibed several distinctive features inherited from the enchanting presentation style of Malabar Raman Nair, the founder-chairman of the Thullal Department in Kalamandalam.
Devaki conquered most of the pre-eminent venues for Thullal during the period. She excelled especially in presenting ‘Kiratham’, regarded to be the testing ground for any Thullal artiste, comparable to the touchstone-like Kottayam plays in Kathakali literature. In March 1964 she cleared the Diploma course in Thullal, ensuring her place of honour in the annals of Thullal as the first institutionally trained Thullal danseuse.
In the number of performances she undertook for her alma mater Devaki broke all records during that decade. Her ‘Kiratham’ was staged at three different venues on a Sivarathri Day. She could present with exceptional dexterity the following episodes too: ‘Kalyanasaugandhikam’, ‘Garudagarvabhangam’, ‘Santhanagopalam’, ‘Nalacharitham’, ‘Rugminiswayamvaram’, and ‘Panchaliswayamvaram’. She studied ‘Pulindimoksham’ too but, being a composition in the Parayan Thullal format, the costumes do not suit a danseuse. Devaki, therefore, refrained from performing that episode on her own, but trained Hari Anu Harshit from Germany to present it, doing full justice to the chitta associated with it. The credit for taking Thullal abroad for the first time also goes to Devaki. Her performance at Mandapa Theater in Paris earned her recognition.
Devaki met her prospective husband Narayanan, who was studying maddalam in Kalamandalam.
Earning his reputation as Kalamandalam Narayanan Nair, distinguished disciple of the maddalam wizard Appukutty Pothuval, he joined Darpana Academy of Performing Arts, Ahmedabad. After their wedding, Devaki also joined the faculty there. Kathakali acharya Kavunkal Chathunni Panicker, who had expertise in Bharathanatyam and Kuchupudi exponent C.R. Achaaryulu were in Darpana during that period. This helped Devaki study those art forms also.
On their return to Nelluvai, Devaki’s reputation as a versatile teacher of dance and the founder director of the Dhanwanthari Kalaakshethram, in addition to being the most outstanding among the deplorably few Thullal danseuses, spread far and wide. She came to be a sought after teacher to impart advanced training in any aspect of Thullal and was invited to advise on codifying the criteria for adjudging presentation of Thullal in youth festivals.
The several accolades she received include those from Thunchan Parambu, Kerala Kalamandalam, Thunchan Smarakam and Kerala Sangeet Nataka Akademi.
Interestingly, the majority of Thullal students in Kalamandalam, are girls. But, disappointingly, after completing their studies, many switch their domain to dance in general or, subsequent to getting married, disappear altogether from the stage. This, according to Devaki, is because their spouses do not support them like her husband who motivated her.
