Kerala Kalamandalam, deemed to be University of Art and Culture by the Government of India, is a major center for learning Indian performing arts, especially those that developed in the Southern states of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, with the special emphasis on

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

. It is situated in the small town of Cheruthuruthy in

Thrissur Thrissur (), formerly Trichur, also known by its historical name Thrissivaperur, is a city and the headquarters of the Thrissur district in Kerala, India. It is the third largest urban agglomeration in Kerala after Kochi and Kozhikode, and t ...

District on the banks of the

Bharathapuzha Bharathappuzha ("River of Bhārata"), also known as the Nila or Ponnani River, is a river in India in the state of Kerala. With a length of 209 km, it is the second longest river that flows through Kerala after the Periyar. It flows thr ...

river.

History

The inception of Kalamandalam gave a second life to three major classical dance performing arts of

as Kathakali,

Kudiyattam Koodiyattam ( ml, കൂടിയാട്ടം; IAST: kūṭiyāṭṭaṁ; ) is a traditional performing art form in the state of Kerala, India. It is a combination of ancient Sanskrit theatre with elements of ''Koothu'', an ancient perform ...

and

Mohiniyattam Mohiniyattam, ( ml, മോഹിനിയാട്ടം), is an Indian classical dance form that developed and remained popular in the state of Kerala. Kathakali is another classical dance form of Kerala. Mohiniyattam dance gets its name fr ...

were, by the turn of the 20th century, facing the threat of extinction under various regulations of the colonial authorities. It was at this juncture, in 1927, that

Vallathol Narayana Menon Vallathol Narayana Menon (Malayalam: വള്ളത്തോൾ നാരായണ മേനോൻ) (16 October 1878 – 13 March 1958) was a Malayalam poet and one of the triumvirate of modern Malayalam poetry, along with Asan and Ulloor ...

and Mukunda Raja came forward and formed a society called Kerala Kalamandalam. They solicited donations from the public and conducted a lottery in order to raise funds for this society. Kerala Kalamandalam was inaugurated in November 1930 at Kunnamkulam, Kakkad, and was later shifted to the village of Cheruthuruthy, just south of

Shoranur Shornur is a town and a municipality located in the Palakkad district, in the Indian state of Kerala, located on the banks of the Bharathapuzha River. The town covers an area of 32.28 km2. Geography Shornur is located at . It has an ...

, in 1936. The

Maharaja of Cochin The Kingdom of Cochin, named after its capital in the city of Kochi (Cochin), was a kingdom in the central part of present-day Kerala state. It commenced at the early part of the 12th century and continued to rule until 1949, when monarchy w ...

donated land and a building. Subsequently, a dance department was started to revive Mohiniyattom. Kerala Kalamandalam has been functioning as a grant-in-aid institution under the Cultural Affairs Department,

Government of Kerala Government of Kerala is the Subnational administrative division, subnational government of the Indian state of Kerala. The government is led by a chief minister, who selects all the other ministers. The chief minister and their most senior mini ...

. In 2006, the Kalamandalam was accorded the status of 'Deemed University for Art and Culture' by the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

. In 2010,

University Grants Commission (India) University Grants Commission (UGC) is a statutory body set up by the Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various ot ...

has given 'A' category status for Kerala Kalamandalam. Kalamandalam is the only deemed university in

state accorded the prestigious status.

Visits by prime ministers

The first

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

to visit Kerala Kalamandalam is

Jawaharlal Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...

in 1955 for the Silver Jubilee of the Kerala Kalamandalam. Indira Gandhi was the second

to visit Kerala Kalamandalam in 1980 and V. P. Singh in 1990. Manmohan Singh is the fourth

to visit Kerala Kalamandalam in September 2012.

Courses

Kalamandalam imparts training in classical dance and theatre forms like Kathakali,

, Thullal, Kuchipudi,

Bharatanatyam Bharatanatyam () is a major form of Indian classical dance that originated in Tamil Nadu. It is one of the eight widely recognized Indian classical dance forms, and expresses South Indian religious themes and spiritual ideas, particularly of ...

, and Nangiar Koothu, besides the traditional orchestra called

Panchavadyam Panchavadyam (Malayalam: പഞ്ചവാദ്യം), literally meaning an orchestra of five instruments, is basically a temple art form that has evolved in Kerala. Of the five instruments, four — timila, maddalam, ilathalam and idakka ...

. Training is also given in various percussion instruments like

chenda The Chenda ( ml, ചെണ്ട, ) is a cylindrical percussion instrument originating in the state of Kerala and widely used in Tulu Nadu of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu in India. In Tulu Nadu (Coastal Karnataka), it is known as ''chende''. ...

maddalam The maddalam or madhalam (Malayalam: മദ്ദളം) मद्दलम , ମଦ୍ଦଳମ , మద్దళమ్ , ಮದ್ದಳಂ is a drum made out of the wood of the jackfruit tree. It has two sides for playing, made out of leather ...

and

mizhavu A mizhav or mizhavu (Malayalam: മിഴാവ്) is a big copper drum played as an accompanying percussion instrument in the Koodiyattam and Koothu, performing arts of Kerala. It is played by the Ambalavasi Nambiar community. After 1965, wh ...

. Kalamandalam follows the

gurukula A or ( sa, गुरुकुल, gurukul) is a type of education system in ancient India with ('students' or 'disciples') living near or with the guru, in the same house. The guru-shishya tradition is a sacred one in Hinduism and possibly ...

sampradayam, the ancient Indian education system based on residential tutelage. Kalamandalam was conceived to provide training to its students in the Gurukula Sampradaya, an ancient tradition of residential schooling where students stayed with the teachers. The first vice chancellor of kerala kalamandalam was K G Paulose (2007) and the last chairman of Kerala Kalamandalam was O.N.V.Kurup. Present vice chancellor is T K Narayanan.

Former chairpersons

The following is a list of Chairpersons/Vice chancellors of Kerala kalamandalam. The

, on the advice of the University Grants Commission declared Keralakalamandalam as deemed University as per order No. F9 -11/99 U3 dated 14-03-2006. The

approved the Memorandum of Association and Rules and subsequently the title "Chairman" was substituted by "Vice-Chancellor" (since 2007)

References

External links