Aattakatha (performance)

Aattakatha is a literary genre in Malayalam language consisting of the libretto used for the Indian classical dance drama kathakali.

[3] The narrative framework of aattakatha consists quatrains in Sanskrit metres where the diction also is heavily Sanskritised; the dialogue part, however, is made up of padas, which can be set to raga (tune) and tala (rhythm) and have to be rendered by means of gestures and body movements by the actors while being sung by musicians from behind.

[1] The earliest of the aattakathas is believed to be a cycle of eight Ramayana stories (collectively known as Ramanattam), composed by Kottarakkara Tampuran and about whose date there is an ongoing controversy.

[2] Next in importance are the works of Kottayathu Tampuran whose period is about the middle of the seventeenth century.

[2] Since the four aattakathas he wrote Bakavadham, Kalyanasaugandhikam, Kirmeeravadham and Kalakeyavadham punctiliously conform to the strict rules of kathakali, they are particularly favoured by orthodox artistes and their patrons.