The art of Ramanattam with rich folk ingredients became Kathakali (story-play) when Kottayath Thampuran (1645-1716) further improved it and wrote four plays in the same style with stories adapted from the Mahabharata, as performances of episodes from the Mahabharata could not be described as Ramanattam, the play of Rama. Vellatt Chathunni Panicker (17-18 C), who was the Kathakali trainer associated with Kottayath Thampuran, returned to Kallatikkotu village in Palakkad district and started Kathakali training and gradually this style came to be known as the Kallatikkotan, considered as the root of the form. The Kaplingatan, developed later as the southern style of the art, is a reformed offshoot of the Kallatikkotan school.
(‘Chemmencheri Asan: the torchbearer of Kallatikkotan legacy’ by K.K. Gopalakrishnan, The Hindu Friday Review, April 26, 2018)

As a choreographer, KN Dandayuthapani Pillai was ahead of his times; it was interesting to watch his dance composition for a Hollywood movie, ‘The River’ in which Dr. Radha Burnier, former International President of The Theosophical Society and niece of Rukmini Devi Arundale, had danced for his choreography. He also sang and conducted a dance in that movie.
(‘A tribute to the legend Dhandayuthapani Pillai’ by Nandini Ramani, The Hindu Friday Review, July 13, 2018)



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