INTRODUCTION
Kathakali is an ancient dance form, which is mostly practiced in Kerala, and this type of dance in mentioned in some of our holy texts of Hinduism. This dance would be mostly performed by male dance professionals by wearing rich costumes and nice face covers. Kathakali provides good entertainment to all types of people, irrespective of their caste, creed, community, gender and religion, since during the performance of Kathakali dance, the dancers would show good facial expressions and hand gestures, which would be liked by the viewers.
Kathakali dance would be played based on our holy texts of Hinduism, such as Ramayana, Bhagavatham and Mahabharata. The performer would bring the real Puranic heroes in the stages, through their good performance.
Ancient Kerala kings used to enjoy this type of dance, and they would give suitable awards and rewards to the Kathakali dance performers. Whenever the Mahabali character is played by the dancers, there would be a great applause from the audience side, since still most of the Keralites are considering Mahabali, as their own leader. They also would bring the real Krishna and Rama into the stage through their wonderful performance.
Kathakali dance is practiced for several thousands of years, and it is still gaining more and more recognition from the dance lovers, due to its good characteristic features. But still some of the Kathakali dancers are living in poverty, and they are earning money for their livelihood by doing odd jobs like painting, plumbing and weaving. Big Business houses and art lovers must give more chance for them by conducting regular Kathakali shows and it must be telecasted in Private and Government TV Channels.
We should protect our ancient art and tradition, by giving more support to the Kathakali Dancers. Similar to Bharatanatyam Dance, this form of dance also, must be given importance, since in this dance form, the performers are trying their level best to deliver the best results from their side, and they are also wearing thick clothes and face covers for hours together, in order to provide good sort of entertainment to us.
“OM”
