13. Sanskrit Dramas and education

In Kerala the theatrical performances of Bhasa's plays has a very long history. His Pratimanataka and Abhisekavataka were enacted in the traditional Sanskrit theatre of Kerala namely Kutiyattam. This stream of tradition is still alive in Kerala. At the same time some modern Malayalam plays writers and activists of experimental theatre are influenced by the Bhasa plays, and their translations have made remarkable contribution to the theoretical presentation of some of the Bhasa plays like Karnabhara and urubahanga. Modern producers of the Bhasa plays wanted to create a new theatre with traditional elements utilized in a creative manner and considered the visual and oral reinterpretation of the possible of the medium already available. In a large way this led, In a large way this led, as in the case of Kavalam Narayanapanikkar, to a renaissance of Sanskrit theatre. His

305 newly styled Sanskrit plays are welcomed all over India by scholars of Sanskrit and layman alike. Until recent decades, various classical and devotional art forms, folk and popular forms of art and literature were largely ignored by scholars, who turned-their attention to Sanskrit drama. Karnabhara and Urubahanga two short and serious Sanskrit plays written by Bhasa have created great interest in the contemporary theatre of Kerala. These is a renewed interest in Karnabhara among the theatre loving people of Kerala after the enactment of this drama at New Delhi in December 2001 in which Mohanlal, the cinema superstar presented the role of Kamna. The drama was started by Kavalam Narayanapanikkar, the founder of Sopanam group of theatre. The drama got a very big media coverage. New experiments were carried out by theatre persons in Kerala in Sanskrit plays of Bhasa. These experiments were based on the rich folk and artistic traditions of Kerala. Through this experiment they opened a new door for the viewers and actors of Sanskrit plays. People could already understand the Malayalam dramas. By watching the Sanskrit dramas audience can understand the difference between the Sanskrit and other plays in style, stage setting etc.. In cinema artists use dialogue only one or two times and after a few minutes they forget it. But in drama the players learn by

306 heart there dialogue part also and they repeat these dialogues in every stages. So the actors learn sentence or slokas for this purpose. In the style of Kavalam a rebirth of the visual language of the traditional art forms may be felt. The key point which make Kavalam's theatre a different one is that his presentation is enjoyable for the public because of their rich art and cultural content. So his contributions are valuable for both the Sanskrit and Malayalam.