Reviving the vibrant rhythms of yore

For Salini Harikumar, Mohiniyattam has been her life ever since she was six years old. Even though the Thrippunithura native was also sent for kathakali and classical music classes since her childhood, when it came to opting for a subject for her higher studies, she had nothing else but mohiniyattam in mind. For someone so devoted to it, it was only natural to wonder why Kerala’s own art form hardly uses its traditional rhythms, and relies on Carnatic counterparts in its presentation. This, despite many other art forms like kathakali widely using them.