Koothu is a remarkable art form, a unique tradition and a two thousand year old legacy. Not just that, the mother of fine arts is innate abode the performing arts, that carries with it, an identity and heritage of Tamil culture beyond compare.
Yet the performing artists of koothu and their household see no progress in their lifestyle. In Fact they are often seen struggling in cycle of poverty and debt. Despite no hope of amelioration of their livelihood, they serve themselves body and soul to the art form in order to preserve it.
Hence to revive and revitalize this classical heritage art form, it is a mandate that the livelihood of these performing artists & their households are assured of development. Hence the trust is focused in its goal of upgrading the artists’ livelihood, documenting their form as a means to restore the art form so that it is carried forward in its pristine state to the next generation.
The once celebrated art forms like Theru koothu (தெருக்கூத்து), Thorpaavai nizharkoothu (தோற்பாவை நிழற்கூத்து), Marapaavaikoothu (மரப்பாவைக்கூத்து) have been left in despair in the prevailing trend of commercialized entertainment. Nevertheless, the mother of fine arts still holds herself alive deeply engraved in these art forms. We must realize that it is only our ancient culture that can bring us empathy towards fellow creatures, give us courage to fight back dominance and raise voice against suppression.
Further, for a daily wage laborer, the joy of getting involved unconsciously and involuntarily can never be derived from any other pompous literary arts. Performing artists, who are marginalized, succumb to poverty; they have joined hands in this cause to rejuvenate the endangered art with all their physical, monetary and heartfelt contribution.
It is now our duty to appreciate our brothers, give them recognition among the society that is clad with spiteful politics and also raise their standard of living. By improving the artists' life it is ensured that our very own classical arts are revived and that the future generations are handed over with heritage that is uncompromising and unaffected.
The Kalari Heritage and Charitable Trust which strives for these objectives has been in the field for over fifteen years and continues to stage Theru koothu, Thorpaavai nizharkoothu, Marapaavaikoothu, Sevaattam and other performing folk arts across the state. Serious engagement with language and art is a mandate for cultural renaissance.
As earlier noted,the trust focuses on four significant fronts such as upgrading the life of performing artists, restoring these traditional artforms to its pristine state, duly passing them to the next generation without any compromise on their originality and working on documentation of the art forms.
Amidst the two year pandemic period, the trust has been organizing and livestreaming performances of Koothu, Thorpaavai Nizharkoothu, Marapaavai koothu on social media platforms such as Facebook, thereby garnering financial support to source income for these performing artists.
The Trust is focussed in upgrading the life & healthcare of the artists’ households of the region. The Salem Regional Art & Culture centre granted housing plots to 40 artist households in Erode. The senior and elderly artists are enrolled under Government welfare schemes for folklore artists to enable their households to avail education and healthcare facilities at subsidized rates. So far, 80 senior artists are registered with the Society for welfare of artists in Folklore and Performing artforms. The trust also aids students from the artists’ households for their higher education.
In an attempt to create attention and awareness on the classical heritage art forms, the trust conducts training workshops and performances in schools and colleges across the state. Further the trust engages young students from schools in hill stations, with extra-curricular activities and craftworks such as storytelling, puppet making, drawing, mono act etc.
As a significant step in bringing the next generation into the artforms, Kalari curated events of Knowhow of performing arts to ensure attention and awareness. A three day workshop was held at the Coop forest of Moongilkombai Village in October 2013.
The trust runs a school of training in performing arts at Yervadi, Salem with 16 students.
The Trust provides a lump sum amount as gratuity to surviving family members in the event of the death of an artist and for over a decade we have been curating prizes and memorial awards annually to infuse an endeavor, an engaging temper among artists.
Arunkoothu அருங்கூத்து a compilation of works and Vithaithavasam விதைத்தவசம் a documentary encompassing the life of artists along with their performing art forms have been produced.
A Documentary on women performing artists, Periya Seeragapadi Saroja - Muthulakshmi பெரிய சீரகாபாடி சரோஜா - முத்துலட்சுமி is under production.
Musical instruments play an invincible role in the performing arts theatre with its timed stroke through the play, via every repetition, every time it fills a gap and its significance in providing a flow of events. All it needs is nuance, the mastery to animate the life of a stage play and such was the skill of the performing arts music genius, Ammapettai Chellapan about whom Kalari trust has made a documentary film.
In another attempt to retrieve and republish the lost works about performing arts, work is underway on books about the decorative works involved in Koothu, Udanganaiyin kanavunilai (உடாங்கணையின் கனவு நிலை),etc.
The Sangeet Natak Academy curated three of the Kongu performing arts such as Koothu, Nizhalpaavaikoothu and Marapaavaikoothu, taking them across the major cities including New Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Coimbatore, Puducherry, Shillong and Guwahati, so as to initiate art enthusiasts into these performing arts. Also performances were arranged on a regular basis across the state of Tamil Nadu.
In 2013, the trust was able to curate performances in several states of U.S.A such as Minnesota, St.Louis, San Francisco, Atlanta etc.
The Trust has been collaborating with the performing artists for over two decades and it was registered in 2007, Registration No.310/2010.
The trust has been registered under Section 80G of Income Tax act, thereby qualifying donations made via cheque or cash eligible for tax exemption.
Managing Trustee : M. Harikrishnan, Employee in Jindal steels, Salem, Performing artist, short story writer and Editor of Manalveedu magazine.
Trustee: R. Dhanapal, Employee in Jindal steels, performing arts enthusiast, activist.