The world has passed through a period of trial and distress it has never experienced since the evolution of man. The Second Great War has been a lesson in world-wide co-operative effort, and the war will not have been fought in vain, if it has taught the nations of the world that despite our divergences, humanity is essentially one, and that underneath the differences, accentuated and multiplied as they have been by the conventional life of today, there runs an undercurrent of thought and feelings, which is shared by all alike.
This is the great truth which Anthropology teaches with its world-wide outlook on human history; and in no aspect of social life is this more obvious than on the recreational side, with the realisation that if life is to be lived, the lighter side is as important as the serious. As Dr. Marett puts it in his own inimitable way, "all work and no play makes Jack not only a dull boy, but a stupid man". From the earliest cave-man, human beings have been endeavouring "not only to live, but to live well". This art of living well is in no sense a selfish doctrine, for man in the early days lived "each for all and all for each" to an extent that is incredible to us today. And the gospel of the joyous life, so permeated his existence that it pervaded all the activities of his group life, resulting in the rich variety of plays and pastimes, which is evident among all peoples of the present day, civilised or primitive. An understanding then of the recreational side of human societies, is as important from the point of view of the social welfare of the peoples concerned, as of the wider interests of ethnology. I make no apology therefore in presenting to the public a brief survey of the folk plays and dances of Kerala, a region which has kept true to its traditions and has preserved the customary institutions, despite the spread of Western civilisation, which has made such rapid strides among the people. In Europe the realisation of the need to conserve what is best in the traditional culture of the past has led to a revival in rural cultural studies, which witnessed its greatest development in the years immediately preceding the present war. The succession of International Folk Dance festivals held in Vienna in 1934, in London in 1935 under the auspices of the English Folk Dance and Song Society, and of the British National Committee on Folk Arts, followed by the Third International Festival in August 1939 in Stockholm, testify to the wide spread awakening and enthusiasm in the field of European folk studies. The magnificent display of folk plays and dances held in the picturesque grounds of Blenheim Palace in the suburbs of Oxford during the summer of 1931, was an eye-opener to the writer who was the only Indian among the Sightseers, impressing him with the great need for an all-round revival of folk arts and of folk plays and dances here in India, where the advancement of rural studies is so vital to the welfare of her peoples.
With the publication in 1936 of Dr. Chelnat Achyutha Menon's "Ballads of North Malabar", under the auspices of the University of Madras, a new era has dawned for the study of the folk culture of Kerala. In many respects it marks a turning point in Kerala folk studies, for barring a few notable exceptions; folk culture has made no serious appeal to scholars of Kerala. The researches that are now being conducted under the aegis of the Madras University, has raised the subject in the public estimation, and the educated Malayalee is at long last persuaded to accord to folk studies their right place in the cultural life of the country. Dr. Menon and other students of folklore have used the Malayalam term "Natotipattuka!" to signify folk songs. Derived from Natǝ, the Malayalam word for 'country', as distinct from 'town', the term natotipattukal, emphasizes the rural character of the songs, and their country-wide distribution. For the same reason the term, natotikalikal, or simpler still, natankalikaj has been adopted to denote folk plays, and atta-kajikaj to signify plays in which dancing forms the essential feature.
In this book Mr. M.D. Raghavan of the Madras Museum gives us in rapid outline an account of the folk plays and dances of the Malabar Coast. The most interesting part of the book is that which deals with the folk dances. It is, I believe, the first attempt to give a reasonably comprehensive account of the folk dances of Malabar and it prepares the way for a detailed study of them. There is ample scope for other scholars, or perhaps for Mr. Raghavan himself, to select particular parts of this wide subject for detailed examination, supported by technical descriptions of the dance steps and of the music and song that accompany the dance.
One of the most important problems in the study of Malabar culture is to estimate the relative proportions in which the Dravidian or Aryan elements enter into it. The language itself suggests that the culture, while exhibiting many traces of Aryan influence, is primarily Dravidian. It is true that early European scholars in dealing with the language of Malabar assumed that it was derived from the Sanskrit. But that opinion has long since been abandoned. Malayalam in essential structure is as truly Dravidian as Tamil or Telugu. The problem of cultural origins embraces not only the language, however, but all the arts and sciences. Assuming that the basis of the culture of Kerala is Dravidian, scholars will endeavour to estimate the time at which Aryan influences first came to be felt and what was the state of the Dravidian culture at that time. It is probable that for several centuries a constant struggle was going on between these cultures, with the result that even the religion of the people was in a state of flux and uncertainty. Other influences may also have been at work, arising out of trade relation with Europe and China and of the movements of peoples.
Of recent years a small but enthusiastic group of Malayalis, together with one or two sympathetic 'foreigners', has done much to revive interest in the culture of Malabar and in particular of its dancing. The poet Vallathol has founded the Keralakalamandalam, where he has been training Malayalis in the traditional dances. He has succeeded in attracting the attention not only of the people of Malabar itself, but of those in other parts of India also. Mrs. Stan Harding has filmed the famous Kathakali dance and introduced it to cultured audiences in England. Interest has lately been aroused in the historical ballads of Malabar by the labours of Dr. Chelnat Achyutha Menon of the Madras University and of Mr. Raghavan himself. Apart from these historic ballads, there are many other folk songs, which are closely connected with folk dances, as will appear from numerous references in this book. Mr. Raghavan has the advantage of being a Malayali, of being keenly interested in the folklore of his country and of being a trained ethnologist. This little work opens the way of further detailed study of a fascinating art.
Send as free online greeting card
Email a Friend
Manage Wishlist