Alappuzha: Lockdown was announced in the country when the festival season in temples were about to begin. Many temple festivals in the state were reduced to mere ceremonies and this affected the lives of traditional artistes in the state.
Suresh Edanadu, a Padayani artiste, stated that the last time he performed Padayani was during a program organized by the cultural department. Suresh is now working as a graffiti artist ahead of the LSG poll in the state.
Suresh and Sathyan Othara, who is also a Padayani artiste, is doing the graffiti writings in Edanadu. Padayani is a traditional art form held in temples in the Central Travancore region. Padayanis are usually organized in temples during Malayalam month of ‘Kumbham’ and ‘Meenam’. The Padayani rituals will last for 12 days. There are different types of Padayani dances. The mask (kolam) of the Padayani artiste is prepared using the lathe of the areca tree.
The colors used for painting on the mask is made green of the lath (Kamukin pacha), Kari (carbon), turmeric powder and sindhooram. The painting is done by artists who have received special training.
A lot of Padayani artistes were affected as they were not able to practice their art owing to the pandemic. A lot of artistes are making use of their artistic skills during the election period in the region.
