Kalamandalam Krishnan Nair birth centenary celebrations begin today

KANNUR: The year-long birth centenary celebrations of kathakali legend late Kalamandalam Krishnan Nair is all set to begin in Pilathara near Payyannur on Sunday, which will be inaugurated by minister for culture K C Joseph. But the native place of the kathakali maestro is yet to have a memorial even after 24 years of his death.
"It is a fact that the kathakali legend, who was honoured with Padmashree in 1970, is yet to have a memorial in his name and the main aim of our organising this birth centenary fete now is to make a befitting memorial," said the organizing committee chairman T V Rajesh, MLA.
As the first stage, it has plans to erect a statue of Krishnan Nair in Pilathara, and also they will publish a book on the kathakali artistes who have prominent role in the promotion of this classical art form, said the organising committee.
"Also, we are going to institute an endowment for the kathakali artistes as part of the celebrations but that is not enough to recognize the artiste who has the distinction of being the first kathakali performer to be honoured with padmashree," said C M Venugopalan, the general convenor of the organizing committee of the centenary celebrations.
The government should take steps to build a memorial and start a kathakali training and research centre at his native Cheruthazham near Payyannur he said.
"When the minister K C Joseph comes to inaugurate the celebrations, we will put this demand before him and our hope is that the government will take a favourable stand in this connection," he said.
Born in Cheruthazham on March 11, 1914, Krishnan Nair got his early training in kathakali under the tutelage of Guru Chandu Panikker. Later, he joined Kerala Kalamandalam, where he studied and later taught kathakali for 14 years. He also received many awards from Kerala and outside, including the Sangeetha Nataka Akademi award in 1968.
Apart from K C Joseph, P K Sreemathi, MP, T V Rajesh, MLA among others will also attend the inaugural function, in which the kathakali artistes will also be honoured. Dr N P Vijayakrishnan would deliver the Krishnan Nair memorial lecture. Two kathakali performances, 'Poothana Moksham', and 'Duryodhana Vadham' are also organized as part of the inaugural function. In the coming months more programmes would be organized, said the organizing committee.