The Monkey God Hanuman in a Kathakali Dance
Friday, January 22nd
Learning Moment: Mamallapuram, India
Last night, we attended the annual Mamallapuram Dance Festival. For US$3, you get to watch two hours of traditional Indian dance in front of Arjuna's Penance - one part of a spectacular World Heritage site.
The show featured dancers from Kerala, in Southern India. There were folk dances, as well as the famous kathakali dance. The costumes, as you can see above, are spectacular. We saw men dance in costumes with five-foot wide boards on their backs, and with 20-foot towers attached to them. It was quite a spectacle.
My favorite part of the night came when the character above appeared. I immediately thought 'that's got to be Hanuman'. I don't know why, but I become unreasonable excited when I see the white monkey god from the Ramayana. Part of it is every kids fascination with monkeys, I guess.
Here's clip of the dance, from YouTube.
It's fascinating to see variations on a theme. In two weeks, we'll be in Bali, where the Ramayana dance will present Hanuman in a more physical role, with a more realistic costume.
Two countries, two versions: both creative and impressive.
Further proof that there can always another twist on a common theme.
We're heading back to the festival on Saturday to see classical women's dance.
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