A Gesture That Would Do Gundert Proud

German artist Harianu Harshitha performs Parayan Thullal with aplomb

A compelling performance of ‘Pulindi Moksham’ (The Salvation of Pulindi) recently showcased the artistic mastery of German-born Thullal performer Harianu Harshitha. The piece, performed in the Parayan Thullal style, tells the story of a tribal couple’s spiritual journey.

The mythological tale centers on a tribal woman named Pulindi and her husband, who regularly collected ash from funeral pyres to worship Lord Shiva. When faced with a shortage of ash, Pulindi sacrifices herself to demonstrate the impermanence of her physical form while affirming the immortality of her soul. Moved by her profound devotion, Lord Shiva restores her to life, granting both her and her husband spiritual salvation.

Harshitha, who has been practising Thullal for the past 33 years, recently performed another piece titled ‘Kalyana Sougandhikam’ at the Tripunithura Sree Poornathrayeesa temple during its Vrischikolsavam festival. While OttamThullal is known for its social satire and quick tempo, Parayan Thullal moves at a more measured pace with controlled movements—a key aspect that enticed Harshitha to gravitate to this art form.

Foreigners often opt to learn gesture-oriented Indian dance forms to overcome linguistic barriers. However, Harshitha, an electrician by profession, was determined to learn the dance form Thullal, penned and composed by legendary Kunchan Nambiar, that too in colloquial Malayalam language. “I was very much attracted by Nambiar’s way of scripting Puranic stories, soaked in sharp social criticism,” Harshitha says. When he first approached Kalamandalam in 1990 to enroll as a student of Thullal Kalari, they asked him to join the Kathakali course.

“I persisted to join as a Thullal student though I was well aware of the tough task of learning Malayalam,’’ he recalls. Harshitha often mingled with the people on the street and observed their lip movements and their mannerisms. Though he was taught the basics of Malayalam and its intricate grammar by Mohankumar, the language teacher at Kalamandalam, he says he owes much of his learning when he began to use the language to the common man. “By all means I consider them as my Malayalam University’’ he says.

“Enjoying a typical Kerala feast, interacting with the fellow men around me, observing their expressions while watching an art form, and even their loose talks have helped me a lot to mime myriad moods and imitate the body language of the average Malayali,’’ Harshitha says. He debuted at Melpathur Auditorium of Guruvayur Sreekrishna temple in 1992 by presenting Garuda Garva Bhangam. His meeting with Kalamandalam Prabhakaran was the turning point in his artistic life.

“We jointly presented Pulindi Moksham Parayan Thullal in Germany in 1995. With Prabhakaran master, I could do many performances in Germany and he helped me translate the lyrics into German language,’’ he says.
Harshitha also translated Nambiar’s classic works like Kalyana Sougandhikam, Anthaka Vadham, Pulindi Moksham, and Garuda Garva Bhangam into German. “All the stories were well received by Germans as we keep a traditional link with Sanskrit which strengthened the bond between two nations,’’ he says.
Harshitha’s success in teaching Thullal in Germany was aided by the umbilical relationship between Sanskrit and German.

He has more than 100 students in Germany who perform Thullal at their schools. His twin children, a boy and a girl, too have been attracted by their father’s passion for Thullal. Like their father, Jan Murali and Mohini Maeria started to learn more about Thullal at the age of 25, after their post-graduate studies in architecture and textile designing respectively.

”Unlike other classical dance forms, Ottanthullal deserves special mention as it focuses on social criticism through simple but effective phrases,’’ says Harshitha who was honoured with the Gisella Bonn Award instituted by the German-Indian Society and Indian Council of Cultural Relations.
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