It was in her early 20s, in 1992, that Pallavi Krishnan moved to Kerala with an aim – to join the Kerala Kalamandalam in Cheruthuruthi to get trained in Mohiniyattam, the art form which fascinated her during her graduation days at Shantiniketan in her hometown Kolkata. Kalamandalam Sankaranarayanan, her guru, who introduced her to Mohiniyattam, while she was being trained in Kathakali and Bharatanatyam alongside Rabindra Sangeet, persuaded her to follow her passion for the artform, which took her to Kerala.
“Kerala, for me, was a cultural shock. It was a conservative place, the language was new, I had no friends, I had zero social interaction, and me hailing from an urban environment, it all made it worse to adjust. Even two years later, I couldn’t pick up Malayalam. I was initially very uncomfortable here. Though Kerala now can boast of a multicultural population, back then, I was the only Bengali in Thrissur. Just to speak in Bengali, I had to drive down to Ernakulam,” recalls Pallavi, the artistic director of Lasya Akademi of Mohiniyattam which has schools in Thrissur and Kolkata.
Now, Malayalam comes to her at ease, words flowing musically like the graceful moves of her onstage persona. The effort she took was earnest and tremendous. “I learned that to know an artform, knowing the root – the culture and language – is very important. And I changed myself, starting internally. I am glad that I got to know the culture and language by choosing my medium of expression, Mohiniyattam. I needed help at first, to understand the poetry of padams.” From learning to read and write, she went on to become an expert in padams, making it possible for her to explain anything and everything to her students from across the globe whom she trains under the traditional guru-shishya parampara, in discipline even while letting them explore their creative realms.
Mohiniyattam got her close to many great gurus and scholars and helped her enrich her knowledge in dance and literature. She could interact with many scholars and exponents like Kavalam Narayana Panicker, with whom she produced her very first choreography. It was in Kerala she found her love in K.K. Gopalakrishnan, an art critic and a banker. Marriage made her more motivated, and continued training under her gurus Bharati Shivaji and Kalamandalam Sugandhi, and became well-versed in adavu and abhinaya, the quality of which stands out in her amazing portrayals. Soon, Pallavi proved her versatility at international level as a leading Mohiniyattam exponent, choreographer and trainer, wooing the hearts of both critics and stalwarts.
She owes it all to the distinctive culture of Kerala and its classical dance tradition. “Compared to Bengal, Kerala is culturally very rich. Back home, we have Baul, Rabindra Sangeet and folk music, there’s no classical dance tradition. But Kerala has rich classical dance forms that date back to over 2000 years – Koodiyattam, Kathakali, Mohiniyattam, Theyyam, Mudiyettu, Sopanam… Here, the culture and society are amalgamized as most of those are temple art forms. There’s the edakka and sopanasangeetham, the only performance inside the temple, before the sanctum sanctorum… I was awestruck,” says Pallavi, who’s fellowship subjects are choreographies based on Ashtapadis.
As she recalled many socio-economic changes in Kerala over the decades, she also observes that the state is highly patriarchal. “Just have a look at the tradition. At Bengal, power is Durga. All the women are Durgas, women are very powerful there. But here, it’s Krishna, and women are not that powerful. As you can see, Kerala’s is a male-dominated society.”
As someone who is uncompromising in her learning and tutoring, Pallavi has attracted a huge following of fans and disciplines globally. She shuttles between Kolkata and Thrissur training students, conducting workshops, holding classes, both directly and over Skype, and performing at times. “I train the traditional Kalamandalam way – first the adavus, then margam, and then the choreography. Only when the foundation is firm that a strong building can be built. I do my part to ensure that in Mohiniyattam. I can see that more people are taking up Mohiniyattam along with Bharatanatyam and Kuchippudi. It’s a positive trend. I can undoubtedly say that for Mohiniyattam, the future is bright,” she concludes.
Published in the March 2022 edition of Malayalam Literary Survey
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