Chavittu Nadakam

Chavittu Nadakam: Kerala Dance

Chavittu Nadakam is a folklore art practiced by Roman Catholics belonging to Latin Rite in the districts of Thrissur, Ernakulam and Alappuzza of Kerala state in India. The art form was evolved during 16th century with the influence of Portuguese who came to Kerala Malabar coast for trade and missionary work. Tradition says that Portuguese were impressed by the early forms of Kathakali and took initiative with the local scholars to develop a new musical dance-drama art form mixing Kathakali and European Miracle Play.
Offshoot of theatre, this form of play was prevalent among the Christian community spanning from Kodungallur (Thrissur District) to Ambalappuzha (Alappuzza District). Training is provided to performers before staging the play. The master is known as Annavi. The whole play is performed through musicals.
The stories are mostly the heroic episodes of Bible or great Christian warriors. The performers wear glittering Greco-Roman costumes. The bell and drum are two instruments used as background score. The language is Malayalam with some mix of Tamil. Though it used to be an open stage performance, in the recent times this is mostly played indoor. The predominant feature of this art is the artistes stamping (Chavittu) the dance floor producing resonant sounds to accentuate the dramatic situations. They sing their lines loudly and with exaggerated gestures stamp with great force on the wooden stage.