Thullal is a solo dance performance created in 18th century by Kalakkath Kunjan Nambiar (1700 - 1770). Like Kathakali, the reasons were similar in the case of creation of Ottan Thullal. Once Kalakkath Kunjan Nambiar who was a Mizhav (drum) player in the “chakyar koothu” was insulted by the chakyar because of his diversion of mind during the performance in Ambalapuzha temple. Thus he decided to make another art form which can be easily understood by the common man. In the following day he makes a story on “Kalayanasaugandhikam”and performed in front of the premises where the chakyar presenting the “koothu”. The whole crowd is diverted to Nambiar to see the new art.Nambiar made the characters humorous and they were boasted by the crowd.
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| Kunjan Nambia |
In 18th century most of literature was written in Sanskrit language as the writers considered Sanskrit as a heavenly language. Nambiar make the the history by using the Malayalam language in thullal. He started making thullal on the attractive moments in the Ramayana, Mahabharata and other epics. Nambiar implemented some changes in thullal by mixing some tribal forms to create 3 types of Thullal - Ottan, sheethangan and parayan in which Ottan Thullal is widely popular.
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| PARAYAN THULLAL |
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| OTTAN THULLAL |
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| SHEETHANKAN THULLAL |
In this song will sung by a main singer and is repeated by the performer himself. In some performance it is seen that an assistant to the main singer is repeating the song. The style and raga of today’s thullal is prescribed by Nambiar though some changes have been done periodically. The whole performance takes lesser time as compared to Kathakali as it is a solo performance. The performer is a multi talented person who can sing and dance simultaneously. Thullal is well-known for its simplicity in language, music and visual appearance.
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| MAKEUP |
The makeup is very simple and consume very less time as compared to Kathakali. The surrounding portions of the eyes and lips are painted by black and red color respectively. Except these all are filled with light green and the outer portion is covered by a white colored thick line.
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