The Story of the Celestial Flower: as told by Ōṭṭaṉ Tuḷḷal Manaloor Gopinath
The Story of the Celestial Flower: as told by Ōṭṭaṉ Tuḷḷal Manaloor Gopinath
Arts Lab: Heritage, Urban Studies and Development Lab
Date: Monday 02 September 2024
Time: 17:30 - 18:30
Venue: ARC Room 237b-c
Category: Concerts and music, Films and theatre
Speaker: Manaloor Gopinath and Dr Ophira Gamliel
Website: events.bookitbee.com/university-of-glasgow-275/the-story-of-the-celestial-flower-as-told-by-ottan/
Ōṭṭaṉ Tuḷḷal is a traditional South Indian performance genre featuring a solo artist telling stories from the South Asian epics, the Mahābhārata and the Rāmāyāṇa, in the Malayalam language. This art form was developed in the eighteenth century by the poet and satirist Kunchaṉ Nambiar branching off a centuries-old tradition of temple theatre performances of the Malabar Coast. These South Asian theatrical traditions are all grounded in India’s dramaturgical knowledge systems going back to the early centuries of the common era and known as Nāṭyaśāstra, “Performance Science” or dramaturgy.
The origins of Ōṭṭaṉ Tuḷḷal are attributed to the offensive behaviour of a cākyar (actor) towards a nambiyār (drummer), who fell asleep during the cākyar’s performance. The cākyar ridiculed the sleeping drummer so badly, that the next day the nambiyār performed an act to ridicule the cākyar in turn. That was Kunchaṉ Nambiar, whose story-telling skills and energetic performance style attracted a bigger audience than the cākyar’s.
Ōṭṭaṉ Tuḷḷal is more than an entertaining performance style; it is also an act of defiance against abusive behaviours by superiors. Kunchaṉ Nambiar’s poetry is designed so as to convey messages of social justice, inclusivity, and mutual care. The story of the Celestial Flower, based on the Mahābhārata, tells the story of Bhīma, wreaking havoc on the forest in search of a celestial flower on behalf of his beloved wife, Pañcāli. To teach him a lesson, his half-brother Hanuman, the monkey god, takes the form of an elderly, feeble monkey lying on the road. Bhīma finds he cannot move the tail of the monkey despite his power and might and is humbled. The story ends with a hug between the brothers who never met before, a hug of fraternity between the human and non-human worlds.
Mr Gopinath will perform this story in the traditional way of role-switching, whereby the actor presents all the characters of the story, signalling the identity of the character by using sign language of hand gestures (mūdra). The performance will be preceded by a 10-minute talk by Dr Ophira Gamliel (Theology & Religious Studies) on the background of this unique performance form and the story. It will be followed by a short demonstration of the hand and facial gestures representing each character. Mr Gopinath will then perform selected episodes and verses from Kunchaṉ Nambiar’s story of the Celestial Flower (kalyāṇasaugandhikam). The story synopsis will be made available prior to the performance to assist with following the story line. A Q&A session will follow the performance.
About the artist
Mr Gopinath has been practising and teaching the Ōṭṭaṉ Tuḷḷal art form for the past 36 years, after training under the maestro Kalamandalam Gopinathaprabha at the Kerala Kalamandalam, the most established school of the performance arts in the state of Kerala. Among his teachers are also Kalamandalam Parameswaran and Guru Pazhuvil Gopinath. Mr Gopinath performed all over India, as well as in the UK, Hong Kong, Qatar, Oman, UAE and Malaysia, and his performances are in high demand in the most prominent temples in Kerala such as the famous 14th-century Guruvayur temple. He has also used his skills and knowledge to choreograph a special Ōṭṭaṉ Tuḷḷal for the Kerala Government Health Department to promote awareness on Leprosy. He has won numerous awards and honours from various governmental, national, and international organisations in India and abroad.
You can find a segment of an Ōṭṭaṉ Tuḷḷal performance with English subtitles here.
Admission free