Watch Kathakali with Hindi, Eng commentary

Nagpur: The beauty of painted faces and amazing postures in performing

Kathakali

dance takes everyone’s breath away, but what goes behind to put this act together is the script and story selected from mythology.

People, especially non-Malayalis, often fail to understand the essence of these stories since it is narrated in Malayalam. Now, here is an opportunity for all Kathakali lovers to understand the story as the songs will be accompanied by

Hindi

and

English

commentary.

Kathakali

dance drama

‘Narakasuravadham (the death of Narakasura)’ will be performed at 7pm on Sunday as part of the ongoing three-day All-India Classical Dance Competition and Festival being held at Sai Sabhagruh.

Janardhanan Nair of Pratibha Natya Mandir believes the commentary will attract all dance lovers. “The narration is always in Malayalam. As Nagpur is a multi-lingual city, we wanted people to understand the storyline so that they could enjoy the performance to the fullest,” he said.

Manish Nair, who will be doing the commentary, said,“Kathakali reflects Malayalam culture. Hence, we decided to use Hindi and English to make the performance more people friendly. The story of Narakasura will sure be liked by Kathakali lovers,” he said.

The act will be performed by Kalamamdalam Adthiyan and troupe from Kerala. The story of Narakasuravadham revolves around demon king Narakasura who deputes Nakrathundi to capture damsels from heaven. The demoness travels to heaven, nabs a few and starts her return journey.

“On her way, Nakrathundi meets young and handsome Jayantha, son of Indra. Attracted to him, the demoness approaches Jayantha in the guise of beautiful Lalitha. She reveals her longing for Jayantha, but he turns down her proposal for marriage,” said Manish, explaining the story.

A disappointed Lalitha then turns into ferocious Nakrathundi and tries to abduct Jayantha. In the tussle that follows, Jayantha mutilates Nakrathundi by cutting off her ears, nose and breasts. The rest of the story is about the revenge of Narakasura who defeats Indra, but is later killed by Lord Krishna.

“The performers are on their way to present their art in all its glory. However, the songs will be in Malayali,” said Rajan Nambiar, president of NSS.

Diwali sybolizes the victory of Lord Krishna over Narkasura--good over evil.