{"id":347104,"date":"2025-09-30T17:18:57","date_gmt":"2025-09-30T11:48:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/?p=347104"},"modified":"2025-09-30T17:18:57","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T11:48:57","slug":"traditional-ritual-theatres-of-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/traditional-ritual-theatres-of-india\/","title":{"rendered":"Traditional Ritual Theatres of India"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>News: <\/strong>UNESCO recognition of Indian ritual theatres\u2014Kutiyattam, Mudiyettu, Ramman, and Ramlila\u2014highlights their Intangible Cultural Heritage status and the need for sustained safeguarding and transmission.<\/p>\n<h2>About Traditional Ritual Theatres of India<\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_347105\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-347105\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-347105\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Source-PIB1.jpg?resize=300%2C294&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"294\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Source-PIB1.jpg?resize=300%2C294&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Source-PIB1.jpg?resize=768%2C753&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Source-PIB1.jpg?w=900&amp;ssl=1 900w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-347105\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source &#8211; PIB<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<ul>\n<li>UNESCO has inscribed <strong>four significant ritual theatre forms<\/strong> from India on its <strong>Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity<\/strong>: <strong>Kutiyattam, Mudiyettu, Ramman, and Ramlila<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Kutiyattam<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>It is one of India\u2019s <strong>oldest surviving theatrical traditions<\/strong>, dating back <strong>over 2,000 years<\/strong>, from\u00a0 <strong>Kerala<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>It <strong>blends Sanskrit classicism<\/strong> with Kerala\u2019s <strong>local traditions<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>It uses a <strong>codified language of eye expressions (neta abhinaya)<\/strong> and <strong>hand gestures (hasta abhinaya)<\/strong> to explore a character\u2019s emotions and thoughts.<\/li>\n<li>Performers undergo <strong>10\u201315 years of rigorous training<\/strong> to master techniques such as <strong>breath control<\/strong> and <strong>subtle muscle movements<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Traditionally staged in <strong>temple theatres (kuttampalams)<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Mudiyettu<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Mudiyettu is a <strong>ritual dance-drama of Kerala<\/strong> depicting the <strong>mythological battle<\/strong> between <strong>Goddess Kali<\/strong> and the demon <strong>Darika<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Performed <strong>annually<\/strong> in <strong>Bhagavati kavus<\/strong> after the <strong>harvest<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>It begins with <strong>purification rituals<\/strong> and the drawing of a <strong>sacred kalam of Kali<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Performed in <strong>Bhagavati kavus (temple precincts)<\/strong>, preceded by <strong>kalamezhuthu<\/strong> (<strong>ritual drawing of the goddess<\/strong><strong>\u2019<\/strong><strong>s image<\/strong>) and <strong>invocation ceremonies<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Ramman<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>It is an <strong>annual religious festival<\/strong> celebrated in <strong>late April<\/strong> in the <strong>twin villages of Saloor-Dungra, Uttarakhand<\/strong>, in honour of the local deity <strong>Bhumiyal Devta<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>It features <strong>complex rituals<\/strong>, <strong>recitations of the Ramayana<\/strong>, <strong>songs<\/strong>, and <strong>masked dances<\/strong>, with each <strong>caste and group<\/strong>playing <strong>distinct roles<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Instruments used: Dhol<\/strong> (a type of drum), <strong>Damau<\/strong> (smaller percussion drum), <strong>Manjira<\/strong> (small hand cymbals), <strong>Jhanjhar<\/strong> (larger cymbals), <strong>Bhankora<\/strong> (a kind of trumpet)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Ramlila<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>It is <strong>widely performed across northern India<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>It <strong>dramatizes the life of Lord Rama<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>The performances are largely based on the <strong>Ramcharitmanas<\/strong>\u2014a <strong>sixteenth-century<\/strong> devotional text composed by <strong>Tulsidas<\/strong> in <strong>Hindi<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>News: UNESCO recognition of Indian ritual theatres\u2014Kutiyattam, Mudiyettu, Ramman, and Ramlila\u2014highlights their Intangible Cultural Heritage status and the need for sustained safeguarding and transmission. About Traditional Ritual Theatres of India UNESCO has inscribed four significant ritual theatre forms from India on its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity: Kutiyattam, Mudiyettu, Ramman, and&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/traditional-ritual-theatres-of-india\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Traditional Ritual Theatres of India<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10393,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1566,11212,12039],"tags":[11872],"class_list":["post-347104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-factly-articles","category-history-and-art-culture-in-news","category-knolls","tag-9pm-daily-factly","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10393"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=347104"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347104\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=347104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=347104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=347104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}