 |
Swati Tirunal, the Maharaja of Tiruvitamkur (1829-1847) was a poet and
music composer of rare genius and a great connoisseur of performing
arts. It was he who took initiative to promote and encourage the dying
dance tradition of dasiattam giving it a new vigour, form and content.
With the help of famous dance nattuvans of Tamil Nadu like, Vadivelu,
Chinnayya, Ponnayya and Sivanandan, Swati Tirunal brought in a
refreshingly new style of choreography giving it a discipline, a compact
presentation form and syllabus of study. He himself wrote a number of
padams and varnams for which he got music composed by Palakkad
Parameswara Bhagavathar, his own court musician. He encouraged poets
like Irayimman Tampi, Kilimanoor Koil Tampuran and Kuttikunju Tankachi
to write padams and varnams. He also invited the famous dancers of Tamil
Nadu, Neerajakshi, Sathyabhama and Sugandhavalli to his court for dance
performances based on these new compositions. Thus it was in the royal
court of Swati Tirunal that Mohiniattam had its first days of glory and
acclaim.
- P J Cherian, Essays on the Cultural Formation of Kerala |
