With ‘Mathangi’ and ‘Chinmaya Charitham’, kathakali takes a giant leap into unconventional ground

For the most part, Kerala’s kathakali dance form portrays episodes from the Mahabharata and Ramayana. That is why the themes of two recent productions, Mathangi Charitham and Chinmaya Charitham have come as congenial surprises.

With Mathangi Charitham, written by Sreechithran MJ, kathakali tackles the stigma of untouchability, perhaps for the first time. It is the story of a woman named Mathangi, born into a lower caste, being accepted as a disciple by the Buddha.

In Malayalam, “charitham” means “tale”.

Chinmaya Charitham, written by K Narayanan and Harindranath, tells the story of journalist Balakrishna Menon who becomes spiritual guru Swami Chinmayananda. He was the founder of the Chinmaya Mission, which propagates the wisdom of Advaita Vedanta and runs educational institutions and rural welfare programmes.

Mathangi was premiered on World Theatre Day on March 27 in Cheruthurty in Thrissur. Chinmaya was staged on May 10 as part of the golden jubilee celebrations of Chinmaya Vidyalaya in Alappuzha, of which Narayanan is the president.

It is not just the subjects of these productions that are unconventional. Mathangi uses the device of a flashback, perhaps for the first time in a kathakali performance. Similarly, Chinmaya deploys a sutradhar or narrator.

Mathangi and Chinmaya follow in the wake of two other kathakali productions with unorthodox themes that Scroll reported on recently: Da Vinci Porul, inspired by The Last Supper painting, and The Old...

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