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Margi As a Resource Centre for Kii(iyiit(am o.s,WARRIER AIa lime when the c1as~ical theatre of Kii~yal!3ffi wasfacingseriousdecline,the late D.AppukuttanNairmadestrenouseffortstostartanewbeamforKutiyattam in 'Margi', aschool forclassical arts inTrivandrum.The anempt was10 setupa repertorytosustain the briefsurvivingtraditioninthis artform.Margihadthebenefitof initial assistance from no less a master than Ammannur Madhava Chakyar as thefirst visiting professor orAcharya andArnmannurKochukuttanChakyarastheresidentGuru. It pursued the traditional teaching system underGurukula Sampradayam. Although the school started in right earnest, public performance were rare due 10severe shortageof funds. Margi also wanted torevive theimportantSanskritplayswhoseperformanceshad ceased forquite some time. Margi's Kfitiyattam Kalari got a real boost when Sangeet Natak Akademi gave it support "for developing Margi, Thiruvananthapurarn, as a centre for providing regular performance opportunities to trained artistes." This supportcarneat a timewhen Margi artistes werequitedisillusionedforwantof opportunity for performance,recognitionor public acclaim. Infact,someoftheartistes triedtofindalternativeincomeduetothepoor emoluments they received atMargi. The SangeetNatakAkademi projectgotstartedinMay 1991.Margialsoneededsome timefororganisingasystematic schedule forperformances.Thisnaturallyledtorigorous trainingprogrammes.Theartisteshadtocurtailtheirweeklyholidaysfromtwo10oneand their annual vacation from twomonthstoonemonth.Itwasthendecidedtohaveweekly performances of one or other scene from the plays studied. The Akademi's project assistance, which wasgreeted asalucky signfortheartists,wasutilisedtoitsfullextent bytheartistesofMargi.After thesethreerecentyearsofweeklyperformances,Margican bejustifiably happy that it has by now more than doubled the total stage repertoireof Kiiliyanamand istodayone oftheleadinginstitutions inthisfieldinthecountry. The Repertoire The late Shri. D. Appukuttan Nair, responsible forbuilding upMargi, had vowedto rejuvenate the art ofKii~iyanamand spent mostofhis timefor thecause. Hewas very keen to retrieve the forgotten and unperformed acts of dramas which werestageworthy and thus succeeded in bringing back to the performance stage several of them like Mayasitankam. Agnipravesankam and Pamasalankam ofAscharyachudamani by Sakti Bhadra. Angu/iyankam, another act of the sarne drama, used to be performed as a VazhipaduKiittu(ritual performanceattemplesbywayofofferingsandthattoo)justfor 12nights only, was converted as a Kazhcha Kurtu(performance to be viewedanalysed 226 G.S.WARRlER and appreciated) by Margi; the performance extends to 32 nights. At present, Margi is perhaps the only troupe which can present Saktibhadra's Ascharyachudamani, which most Chakyars and many Sanskrit scholars consider the most complete drama thatcan explainKiltiyattarn'sfullcapabilities. Apart from the above, Margi has also presented the acts Balivadhankam and Toranayuddhankam from Abhisheka Nataka, Kalyanasaugandhika, Tapati Samvarana (FirstAct) and Subhadra Dhananjaya (First act, II nights). Kapali ofMattavilasam has also been presented with the help of anoutside artiste. For the weekly performances, Margi usually invites outstanding Kiitiyattam artistes from the two other institutions in Kerala and dtis has led to closer cooperation and mutual understanding among allthe leading Kupya!!aInartistes. . Margi's Iatest attempl is to present fully the Mantrankam act from Bhasa's Pratijnayaugandharayana, forwhichelaborate trainingisnow conductedundertheguest teacher K.P.Narayanan Nambiar, an authority on the subject who has authored theonly availabletreatiseonit. Inviewoftherigoroustrainingand performanceexperiencegainedatMargi,withthe. assistance of the grant from Sangeet Natak Akademi, Margi artistes have now started reapingthe fruit of their hard work and dedication to this ancient art form. They getthe satisfactionofgettingreasonableopportunitiesofpublic performanceand approbation,in additiontoearningamodest honorarium. Margi artistes have also been receiving recognition both inside and outside Kerala. Guru Ammannur Kochukuttan Chakyarreceived the annual award for Kfitiya!!aInfrom the Sangeet Natak Akademi in 1992. He has also been honoured with the award from KeralaKalamandalam for 1994. AJuniorFellowship hasbeenawardedtoMargiMadhu asaleadingKiitiyattamVeshamartiste bytheMinistry ofCulture,GovernmentofIndia. Sajeev isanother majorartiste performing awide variety ofroles. Otherartistes actively engaged in performance at Margi are Sati and Usha along with Raman and Pothiyjl Narayanan. Percussionplaysavery importantroleinKuJiya!~amperformance.TheseniormiZal'u drummer and instructor at Margi is Kalamandalam Unnikrishnan Nambiar who is currently assisted by Ramanunni and Achuthanandan. The other percussion artistes at Margi are Subramanyan Patti for Idakka and Mohanan for.Timila. Somadas renders assistance as a make-up artist and costume designer under instruction from Guru ~ochukuttanChakyarand UnnikrishnanNambiar. The KiitiyattarnVidyalayarnofMargi ISlocatednearaveryoldandfamous Shivatemple-theMahadevatempleofValiachalai.