Pacciolla

AAWM JOURNAL VOL. 9 NO. 1 (2021)

The Brimming Vessel: An Analysis of the Ritual Repertoire of the Miḻāvu from a Tantric Perspective

Paolo Pacciolla

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Abstract:

The miḻāvu is a huge pot drum that was, until a few decades ago, exclusively associated with Kūtiyāṭṭaṃ Sanskrit theater. Its history, language, and repertoire have been fashioned upon the performance of Kūtiyāṭṭaṃ dramas enacted in Brahmanical temples of Kerala for the

exclusive benefit of a privileged elite. During several centuries of association with these temples where rituals were performed according to Tantric procedures, Kūtiyāṭṭaṃ was heavily charged with ritual elements.

Due to these audience restrictions, Kūtiyāṭṭaṃ remained almost unknown to the rest of the world until the 1960s, when radical political changes produced a revolution in the social organization of Kerala that had a significant impact on this theatrical art form and temple arts in general. A new phase in the history and evolution of the art started in 1965, when a department of Kūtiyāṭṭaṃ was introduced at the dance and theater academy Kerala Kalamandalam. There the art of Kūtiyāṭṭaṃ was redefined and refined and then recognized, in 2001, as a World Intangible Cutlural Heritage by UNESCO.

Today, Kūtiyāṭṭaṃ is a highly complex art form that includes elements and procedures inherited from the ancient Sanskrit theatrical tradition—adjusted to meet and suit the needs and likes of contemporary audiences—as well as elaborated rituals maintained with unquestioning respect. In fact, the sequence of ritual music and dance compositions (puṟappāṭu) introducing dramas is generally considered meaningless by contemporary performers, and almost none of them acknowledge the contribution of Kerala Tantric tradition to it. Contrasting with the performers’ view, the analysis of musical and visual content of the ritual compositions of the miḻāvu shows that they are heavily imbued with Tantric concepts. On the basis of the cluster of ideas, symbols, stories, and rites that have been associated in the Brahmanical temple tradition of Kerala with the miḻāvu and its ritual compositions as well as with the ritual songs and dances preceding the drama, this essay suggests a novel interpretation of the entire puṟappāṭu sequence, arguing that it is a symbolical re-enactment of a sonic cosmology according to Tantric theories.

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Keywords: Kerala, Tantra, miḻāvu, Kūtiyāṭṭaṃ, puṟappāṭu, rhythmic analysis

Contributor Information:

Paolo Pacciolla is a Tagore National Fellow affiliated with the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts in New Delhi.

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