How One Woman Is Changing The Face Of Kali Through The Art Of Mudiyettu
- 24 Nov 2016
- Sunaya
- Features
Mudiyettu, in this day and age, is a little known folk art. But that doesn’t mean it can’t receive a new lease of life or acquire a fresh (though rather late) feminist approach to performance.
Traditionally performed in temples dedicated to the goddess, Mudiyettu is an art form that re-enacts the annihilation of the demon Darika by the goddess Kali. Darika was a demon, granted a boon by Brahma, which ensured that Darika couldn’t be killed by any man from any world in Hindu mythology. Drunk on the power he’d come to exercise, Darika becomes intolerable and his actions atrocious. Narada appeals to Shiva, who circumvents the power of the boon by declaring that the demon would be killed by Kali, a goddess and not born of humans.
Mudiyettu is an organic dance form, little rehearsed and allowed to follow the flow in which the actors and the crowd direct it. It is interactive and involves the assembled crowds in its retelling of the legend. The art is passed down from master to student in keeping with the oral tradition.
However, what one would find surprising is that, until recently, the role of Kali, a female deity, has always been played by men. It was considered that women couldn’t sufficiently express Kali’s raudra bhava on their faces. But that was until Ms. Bindu donned the role and brought Kali storming into the twenty-first century.
At the folk festival held at the Sacred Heart School of Communication last week, as part of their Genderally Speaking campaign, a full Mudiyettu performance was held in their newly completed amphitheatre, with Ms. Bindu as Kali in the first segment. The event was inaugurated by Ms. Rima Kallingal, also a celebrated dancer, who applauded the coordinators and Ms. Bindu and bid everyone bear witness to a moment in history. Or should we say herstory?
Text: Rheanna Mathews Photos: Aghil
