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Kavalam Narayana Panicker – a great poet and dramatist who was fondly addressed as ‘Kavalam’ by Malayalis. Year 2016 witnessed many shocking demises to several active celebrities in different forms of arts, and the latest one added to the list is our ‘Great Kavalam’, an artist who dedicated his full-time to literal field and dramatics. When he passed away on 26 June 2016 aged 88, it was something like curtain fallen down after a phenomenal play that has been staged for several decades. He introduced many Sanskrit and Shakespeare plays to Malayalis, and was quite popular as a poet as well.
Born in Kavalam in 1928, belonging to Alappuzha district – Kerala’s one of the most beautiful places, he was a lawyer by profession before he chose art as his profession. He was quite active in Thrissur circle, followed by Thiruvananthapuram – the state capital with his artistic career and literal works. Apart from his career in theatre, he was also known in film circle as a film director and lyricist. He wrote the script of National award winning movie – Manjadikuru in 2008. He penned lyrics for some of the popular songs of Vadakakkoru Hridayam, Marmaram, Amen etc.
The founder – director of theatre troupe Sopanam, Kavalam Narayana Panicker was a recipient of numerous awards and honours including Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for Direction in 1983, Padma Bhushan in 2007 and Kalidas Samman by the Government of Madhya Pradesh in 1995. Dootavakyam, Madhyamavyayogam, Swapnavasavadattam, Vikramorvasiyam and Shakuntalam are among his major works as a dramatist. This prolific writer penned more than 25 plays in Malayalam, and was quite known for his exploration of Kerala’s traditional art forms through his literary works. When he left the world on 26 June 2016 suffering from age related ailments, he left behind a legacy which every dramatic loves to ponder.
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yes, he was a great poet and dramatist of modern age. Very few people know that Kavalam was also a fine musicologist. He had done deep research in the indigenous ‘taalas’ of Kerala. All this superb knowledge he brought in the music for Mohiniattam. I choreographed and danced to his lyrics and music and together we placed Mohiniattam on the high pedestal that it deserves.
On Saturday I heard about his deteriorating health. He was semi-conscious. On Sunday, my Mohiniattam team of Nalanda and I dashed to Thiruvananthapuram. It was distressing to see him gasping for breath. He was obviously in pain. But he recognized us and showed his happiness. Incoherently he told me, “Such a long association with you.” Suddenly, he started taala fingering on his other palm leaving us amazed. He held my hand and then with a wide grin he performed a graceful dance pose with his palms.
Soon afterwards we left for the airport to return to Mumbai. I kept on wondering why he etched out the taala and the dance hands. And then I remembered. Sometime ago we had a highly innovative, in depth seminar with Kavalam as the main contributor. As a follow up to this seminar, I told him that we must have another seminar on ‘Aesthetics of Taala in Dance.’ It was this promise that his sharp memory was trying to convey to me.