Unlike other parts of India, Kerala's geographic location in the extreme south-west protected it from extraneous influences allowing its many splendoured arts to continue and evolve with a certain insularity. Besides the world-renowned Kathakali, Kerala boasts of the oldest form of Sanskrit theatre, Kootiattam; ritual dances where blood sacrifices are still prevalent; masked and trance performances where dancers wear headgear more than 5 metres high; the most ancient martial arts technique, Kalaripayattu, and many other little-known forms of dance, war and ritual. In a society where every act is codified and every colour symbolic, it needs a lifetime to understand the intricacies and the layers of meaning and sophistication that make up the culture of region. In this book, Kerala's many art and ritual forms are introduced by eminent scholars. Stunning colour visuals, many of rites never seen outside the temple, allow, for the first time, a comparative look into the intricacies of style, make-up, adornments and costumes, making this book a first-ever introduction to the mysterious arts of Kerala.

Study of a classical dance form of Kerala.

"Akashvani" (English) is a programme journal of ALL INDIA RADIO, it was formerly known as The Indian Listener. It used to serve the listener as a bradshaw of broadcasting ,and give listener the useful information in an interesting manner about programmes, who writes them, take part in them and produce them along with photographs of performing artists. It also contains the information of major changes in the policy and service of the organisation. The Indian Listener (fortnightly programme journal of AIR in English) published by The Indian State Broadcasting Service, Bombay, started on 22 December, 1935 and was the successor to the Indian Radio Times in English, which was published beginning in July 16 of 1927. From 22 August ,1937 onwards, it used to published by All India Radio, New Delhi. From 1950,it was turned into a weekly journal. Later, The Indian listener became "Akashvani" (English ) w.e.f. January 5, 1958. It was made fortnightly journal again w.e.f July 1,1983. NAME OF THE JOURNAL: AKASHVANI LANGUAGE OF THE JOURNAL: English DATE, MONTH & YEAR OF PUBLICATION: 05 MARCH, 1967 PERIODICITY OF THE JOURNAL: Weekly NUMBER OF PAGES: 82 VOLUME NUMBER: Vol. XXXII, No. 10 BROADCAST PROGRAMME SCHEDULE PUBLISHED (PAGE NOS): 14-81 ARTICLE: 1. The Kerala Theatre 2. Chandigarh 3. Latest Advances In Medicine And Surgery: Medicine 4. Progress of Science AUTHOR: 1. Dr. K. N. Pisharoty 2. Dr. M. S. Randhawa 3. Dr. P. N. Chuttani 4. Dr. P. D. Bhavsar KEYWORDS : 1.Koothambalams,Kerala,Koothu,Folk 2.Committee,Chandigarh,India,Lahore 3.Drugs,Requirements,Oxygen,Stroke 4.Progress,Science,China,Council Document ID : APE-1967 (J-M) Vol-I-10 Prasar Bharati Archives has the copyright in all matters published in this “AKASHVANI” and other AIR journals. For reproduction previous permission is essential.

Introduction Part I: Caste, Community and performance A ritual performance of Kerala, Vayala Vasudevan Pillai The Patuas of Bengal, Makbul Islam Bards and goddesses: The Pombalas in Tirupati, Anand Akundy Explorations in the art forms of the Cindu madigas in Andhra, Y A Sudhakar Reddy and R R Harischandra Caste identity and performance in a fisher-village of Assam, Kishore Bhattacharjee Part II: Performance Beyond Caste Telugu pady natakam in Andhra: Performance dynamics, P Subbachary Modernising tradition: The yaksagana in Karnataka, Guru Rao Bapat Kalarippayatt as aesthetics and the politics of invisibility in Kerala, P K Sasidharan India People’s Theatre Association in colonial Andhra, V Ramakrishna Gaddar and the politics and pain of singing, D Venkat Rao Reviving moghal tamsa in Orissa, Sachi Mohanty Part III: Classical Dance and its Successors New directions in Indian dance, Sunil Kothari Transpositions in kuchipudi dance, Aruna Bhikshu The impact of commercialization in dance, K Subadra Murthy Art addressing social problems, Ananda Shankar Jayant