The woman reimagining Kattaikoothu for a warming world
The stage is set as it has been for years, with music, colourful costumes, and dramatic dialogue. However, there are no demons to slay or
The stage is set as it has been for years, with music, colourful costumes, and dramatic dialogue. However, there are no demons to slay or kingdoms to defend. Instead, the story unfolds around an invisible enemy that people from across Tamil Nadu know all too well: blistering heat. It is an unlikely story for Kattaikoothu, the centuries-old Tamil folk theatre that has long drawn from the Mahabharata and other epics. But for Thilagavathi Palani, using the art form to talk about contemporary issues is nothing new. Over the years, she has staged productions on anaemia, leprosy, gender equality, and other social issues. More than two decades ago, the 36-year-old from Kalavai Koot Road in Ranipet became one of the first women to perform professionally in Kattaikoothu, breaking into an art form that had long remained the preserve of men. Beginning Tuesday, Sri Thilagam Kattaikkuttu Kuzhu will premiere the show at Vedavalli Vidyalaya, Ranipet, before touring seven schools across Ranipet and Tiruvannamalai — districts that regularly experience the highest temperatures in Tamil Nadu. The troupe comprises 13 members, including five professional artistes and five schoolchildren trained in Kattaikoothu by Thilagavathi.
She believes involving children on stage makes the message more relatable. “When students see performances by children of similar age, the connection is stronger,” she says. The production was developed over six months in collaboration with Asar, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) working in the climate and education space. Born into a lower-income family as the eldest of five daughters, Thilagavathi first encountered Kattaikoothu through her uncle, who taught the traditional theatre form. She was the only girl among boys learning the art in her village. In 2002, she joined the Kattaikkuttu Gurukulam in Kancheepuram, where she trained under renowned Kattaikoothu exponent P. Rajagopal. After eight years of rigorous training and a two-year apprenticeship, she became one of the first female Kattaikoothu artistes in a tradition that had, for generations, been performed exclusively by men. “It gave me confidence,” she says. Since then, she has continued to expand the possibilities of Kattaikoothu, guided by the belief that art should not merely be a means of livelihood, but also a vehicle for social change. After moving to Chennai, she was involved in social work with the fisherfolk, women, and children, and also worked with Katradi Trust, founded by dancer and social worker Sangeeta Isvaran.
Through her work, she was approached by Asar for a series on the environment through koothu. ‘Giving voice to dying discourses’ Thilagavathi dismisses the idea that Kattaikoothu is a dying art form. “That’s a misconception, especially in cities,” she says. “Come to the villages during the festival season and you’ll see how vibrant it still is. Kattaikoothu isn’t a dying art form. It gives voice to dying discourses.” Researchers from Asar shared articles and material explaining climate change and the effects of rising temperatures on people’s health and livelihoods. Thilagavathi said the examples came from different parts of the world. “But as I kept reading them, I realised the same things were happening around me,” she says. She remembered the widening of Arcot-Cheyyar Bypass, where hundreds of trees on the roadside had been cut to make way for the work. “Now, the heat has become unbearable,” she says. Around the time she was reading news reports about older people succumbing to extreme heat and studies linking high temperatures to adverse pregnancy outcomes, her sister tragically suffered a miscarriage.
The BriefWire