Kadhaprasangam
Encyclopedia
Kadhaprasangam, literally meaning story telling performance, is a popular performing art form of Kerala
, India
. It combines the techniques of speaking, acting, and singing to present a story. There will be no costumes, make-up, or settings. The main artist, Kaadhikan would tell the story, act, and sing directly before the audience with two or three accompanying artists in the background playing the orchestra.
The duration is usually between 1½ to 2 hours. It originated from an earlier art form Harikadhakalakshepam which used similar techniques but differed in theme and style. While Harikadhakalakshepam was based on themes from puranas
and epics
, Kadhaprasangam received themes from a variety of sources largely classical and popular literature. The scripts can be original works written for the performance or adaptations of stories from epics, classical, or modern literature. William Shakespeare
's Othello
, Leo Tolstoy
's Anna Karenina
, Kumaran Asan
's Karuna
, Vallathol Narayana Menon
’s Magdalana Mariyam, Changampuzha Krishna Pillai
's Ramanan, Thirunalloor Karunakaran
's Rani and Vayalar Ramavarma
's Aaayisha were some of the literary classics thus successfully adapted for Kadhaprasangam.
Kadhaprasangam's heyday was in the second half of 20th century and it used to attract very large crowds on temple grounds in the festival season. With the advent of the new media and changed lifestyles it lost its original audience but artists are trying to win them back by adapting the art form to the new situation. As a major means of entertainment and education for the common people Kadhaprasangam has played a role of its own in the social change of Kerala
. Its chief exponents were Swami Brahmavruthan, Sathyadevan, M. P. Manmadhan, K. K. Vadhyar, P. C. Abraham, Kedamangalam Sadanandan, Joseph Kaimaparamban, V. Sambasivan, Kollam Babu, V. Harsha Kumar, Kallada V. V. Kutty and several other prominent figures. They contributed much to the development of social and educational renaissance in Kerala history. Soon after 1975, Kadhaprasangam started declining and it could not cope with the then fast and easily comprehensible drama and movies.
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. It combines the techniques of speaking, acting, and singing to present a story. There will be no costumes, make-up, or settings. The main artist, Kaadhikan would tell the story, act, and sing directly before the audience with two or three accompanying artists in the background playing the orchestra.
The duration is usually between 1½ to 2 hours. It originated from an earlier art form Harikadhakalakshepam which used similar techniques but differed in theme and style. While Harikadhakalakshepam was based on themes from puranas
Puranas
The Puranas are a genre of important Hindu, Jain and Buddhist religious texts, notably consisting of narratives of the history of the universe from creation to destruction, genealogies of kings, heroes, sages, and demigods, and descriptions of Hindu cosmology, philosophy, and geography.Puranas...
and epics
EPICS
The Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System is a software environment used to develop and implement distributed control systems to operate devices such as particle accelerators, telescopes and other large experiments. EPICS also provides SCADA capabilities...
, Kadhaprasangam received themes from a variety of sources largely classical and popular literature. The scripts can be original works written for the performance or adaptations of stories from epics, classical, or modern literature. William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
's Othello
Othello
The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1603, and based on the Italian short story "Un Capitano Moro" by Cinthio, a disciple of Boccaccio, first published in 1565...
, Leo Tolstoy
Leo Tolstoy
Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy was a Russian writer who primarily wrote novels and short stories. Later in life, he also wrote plays and essays. His two most famous works, the novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina, are acknowledged as two of the greatest novels of all time and a pinnacle of realist...
's Anna Karenina
Anna Karenina
Anna Karenina is a novel by the Russian writer Leo Tolstoy, published in serial installments from 1873 to 1877 in the periodical The Russian Messenger...
, Kumaran Asan
Kumaran Asan
N. Kumaran Asan , also known as Mahakavi Kumaran Asan , was one of the triumvirate poets of Kerala, South India...
's Karuna
Karuna
Karuā is generally translated as "compassion" or "pity". It is part of the spiritual path of both Buddhism and Jainism.-Buddhism:...
, Vallathol Narayana Menon
Vallathol Narayana Menon
Vallathol Narayana Menon , popularly known as Mahakavi, was one of the celebrity poets in Malayalam language, spoken in the South Indian state of Kerala. Vallathol was born in Chennara, near Tirur, in Malappuram District of Kerala state, southern India. Up to his 27 years he lived in Chennara and...
’s Magdalana Mariyam, Changampuzha Krishna Pillai
Changampuzha Krishna Pillai
Changampuzha Krishna Pillai was a celebrated Malayalam poet from Kerala, India, known almost exclusively for his romantic elegy Ramanan which was written in 1936 and sold over 100,000 copies...
's Ramanan, Thirunalloor Karunakaran
Thirunalloor Karunakaran
Thirunalloor Karunakaran was a renowned poet, scholar, teacher and leftist intellectual of Kerala, India.-Early life:...
's Rani and Vayalar Ramavarma
Vayalar Ramavarma
Vayalar Ramavarma , often known as Vayalar, was a modern Malayalam poet and lyricist. His famous works include Sargasangeetham, Mulankaadu, Padamudrakal, Aayisha, Oru Judas janikkunnu.-Biography:...
's Aaayisha were some of the literary classics thus successfully adapted for Kadhaprasangam.
Kadhaprasangam's heyday was in the second half of 20th century and it used to attract very large crowds on temple grounds in the festival season. With the advent of the new media and changed lifestyles it lost its original audience but artists are trying to win them back by adapting the art form to the new situation. As a major means of entertainment and education for the common people Kadhaprasangam has played a role of its own in the social change of Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
. Its chief exponents were Swami Brahmavruthan, Sathyadevan, M. P. Manmadhan, K. K. Vadhyar, P. C. Abraham, Kedamangalam Sadanandan, Joseph Kaimaparamban, V. Sambasivan, Kollam Babu, V. Harsha Kumar, Kallada V. V. Kutty and several other prominent figures. They contributed much to the development of social and educational renaissance in Kerala history. Soon after 1975, Kadhaprasangam started declining and it could not cope with the then fast and easily comprehensible drama and movies.