Kathakali is one of the major dance forms in the Indian classical dance forms. The dancer depicts a story in the form of actions and movements. These actions are combined form of movements made through eyes, facial expressions, hands, and legs.
Kathakali is one of the major dance forms in the Indian classical dance forms. The dancer depicts a story in the form of actions and movements. These actions are combined form of movements made through eyes, facial expressions, hands, and legs. When we break the term “Kathakali”, then “Katha” means story or depiction of an idea, and “Kali” came from the term “Kala” meaning art.
Kathakali is specifically identified by brightly coloured costumes, and elaborated facial make up. A kathakali dancer is generally a male who puts on these costumes and wears colourful make up.
This dance form originates from Hindu performance art in the southwestern region of Kerala. A kathakali performance consists of music, vocal artists, dancers, who come together to express a concept or an idea.
The traditional themes of Kathakali include folk mythologies, religious legends, spiritual ideas, that originate in Hindu epics and the Purans. The vocal artists sing the songs in Sanskritised Malayalam language.
The costumes and the make up vary as per the changing characters of the story. There are archetypes of every character to represent demons, gods, goddesses, animals, and other representations. To represent the Gods like Ram, Krishna, Vishnu, Arjun, the faces are painted in green and lips in red.