Krishnanattam (Malayalam: കൃഷ്ണനാട്ടം, IAST: Kṛṣṇanāṭṭaṃ) is a temple art in Kerala, India. It is a dance drama and presents the story of Krishna in a series of eight plays and was created by Manaveda (1585–1658 AD), the then Zamorin Raja of Calicut in northern Kerala. The eight plays are: Avataram, Kaliyamardanam, Rasakrida, Kamsavadham, Swayamvaram, Banayuddham, Vividavadham and Swargarohanam. It survives in its glory at the Guruvayur Sri Krishna temple (Thrissur district, Kerala, India). The troupe of players who were maintained by the Zamorin came to Guruvayur Devaswom in 1958, and they are the only troupe of artists who are well maintained by the devaswom till date.

Origin

Krishnanattam is based on Krishnagiti (1654 AD) written by Manaveda, Zamorin of Kozhikode. It is believed that the Zamorin had a vision of Krishna who gave the king a peacock feather, which became the living symbol of this dance-drama. Krishnanattam players wore a peacock feather and thus commemorated the vision of the chieftain.

The legend

King Manaveda told Vilwamangalam about his ambition to view Krishna. The next day the Swamiyar told him that Guruvayurappan has given his consent and Manaveda can see Guruvayurappan playing in the early hours of the morning at the platform of the Elanji tree. He could only see and not touch Him. When as per this agreement, Manaveda saw Guruvayurappan in the form of little child Sri Krishna, he was so excited that he forgot himself and, rushed to embrace little Sree Krishna. Guruvayoorappan immediately disappeared saying, "Vilwamangalam did not tell me that this will happen". However, Manaveda got one peacock feather from the headgear of Bhagavan Krishna. The peacock feather was incorporated in the headgear for the character of Sri Krishna in the dance drama Krishnanattam based on his own text krishnageeti which is composed of 8 chapters. It was performed near the sanctum sanctorum of the Guruvayur Temple. On the ninth day, Avatharam was repeated as the Zamorin felt that it was not auspicious to end the series with the demise of Lord Krishna. The blessed art form is still maintained by Guruvayur devaswom and staged as an offering by devotees.

Author

Samoothiri Manavedan Raja (1585–1658 AD) had education from Anayath Krishna pisharody and Desamangalath varrier. He wrote Poorva bharatha champu (Sanskrit) in 1643. He completed Krishnanattam on 16 November 1653. His statue was installed near 'Panjajanyam' guest house in Guruvayur.

Krishnageethi

The Sanskrit text based on which Krishnanattam was created was written on A.D 1653, aged 68. It consists of eight plays: Avataram, Kaliyamardanam, Rasakrida, Kamsavadham, Swayamvaram, Banayuddham, Vividavadham, and Swargarohanam.It is based on 10th and 11th skandhas of Bhagavata Purana dealing solely the story of Krishna. It has also gained inspirations from Gita Govinda of Jayadeva, Sree krishna vilaasam mahakavya and Narayaniyam of Melpathur Narayana Bhattathiri. Opening sloka of Krishnanattam is Apart from such slokas it is also adorned by many padyageethams like that of Gita Govinda of Jayadeva.Krishnagiti is a masterpiece work in sanskrit by a keralite.

The stories

The eight plays are: Avataram, Kaliyamardanam, Rasakrida, Kamsavadham, Swayamvaram, Banayuddham, Vividavadham and Swargarohanam. its easily memorised by a mnemonic "a-ka-ra-ka-swa-bha-vi-swa".On the ninth day, Avatharam is repeated. The various benefits of Krishnanattam as an offering are listed here.

Costumes, Makeup and related Rituals

All four aspects of a drama, as told by Bharata Muni-viz, Angika, Vachika, Aharya and Satvika are well coordinated in it. The teachers and artists themselves made the costumes. The basic costume differed for male and female characters. The dress of male characters consisted of For the female characters the basic costume included Female characters tie strings of bells around their ankles. These are called chilanka. The actors used any or three colours for their basic make-up. The green for Krishna as a young child has more yellow than blue. Before applying make-up the actor prostrated himself before the oil lamp and thought of the God Guruvayoorappan. The most sacred part of the Krishnanattam costume is the headgear. There are two basic kinds of head dress; a mudi, 'hair that has been wound into a bun and a kiriitam 'a crown'.

Training

Training for artists starts as early as 10 years for 'vesham' and music, 5 years for Madhalam and chutti.

Performances

Night performances in Guruvayur temple in north to Lord Guruvayurappan occurs as offering by devotees. Apart from performing all over India, its reaches are spanning over Europe and the United States. Europe-1980, U.S.A-1985, Singapore, Paris.

Present setup

Consists of over 70 employees under Guruvayur Devaswom. Bookings have to be done through Devaswom alone. The rates for one kadha inside the guruvayur temple is rs.3000.

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