Watch | All about Kattaikoothu, a traditional Tamil folk dance form
The quaint Kattaikkuttu Gurukulam is located eight kilometres from Kanchipuram town in Tamil Nadu.
For the first time since the pandemic, the school which specialises in this oft-overlooked Tamil folk art form performed night-long, readies itself for bite-sized renditions of The Mahabharata.
Serialised over 10 weeks until December 9, the school will have one-and-a-half hour long shows of this epic with versions endemic only to the northern region of Tamil Nadu.
During temple festivals, it is common to find artistes performing in small, makeshift stages on the streets. For decades, men have played female roles too. This has however, changed recently.
The nature of Kattaikoothu or Therukoothu, is rural. It is usually performed by ‘companies’ consisting a minimum of 14 performers in areas including Tiruvannamalai, Kanchipuram, Tiruvallur, Gingee, Dharmapuri, Salem, Vellore, Ranipet and Villupuram.
We meet the founders of the Kattaikkuttu Gurukulam and Kattaikkuttu Sangam.
Read more: Mahabharata’s many versions find place in this Tamil folk dance form called Kattaikoothu
Reporting: Sanjana Ganesh
Video: Shiva Raj
Production: Shiva Raj, Shikha Kumari