how to reach us? I sponsor us I requests for performances
workshops and training I documentation I selected bibliography


PRACTICAL INFORMATION


  • The Sangam has been registered as a society under the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act, 1975 in Kanchipuram under number 91 on the first of November 1990.

  • The Sangam has obtained registration under section 6 (1) of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, 1976 under number 0758209199 enabling it to receive directly grants from abroad.

  • Donations made to the Sangam are eligible for income tax exemption under section 80G of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (vide the Sangam's registration number 2039 (14) 93-94/TN-V, valid up to 31 March 2009).



How to reach us?

The Sangam, its auditorium and the Kattaikkuttu Youth Theatre School are situated at Punjarasantankal, Aiyankarkulam Post-631502, Kanchipuram District, Tamil Nadu, India. Punjarasantankal (or Punjai) is a small village about 8 kilometers outside the centre of Kanchipuram.

Kanchipuram is just off the Chennai-Bangalore National Highway (NH4), about 75 kilometers from Chennai.
Please visit
http://www.geocities.com/kanchipuram_2000/directions.html
for detailed directions on how to reach Kanchipuram by rail or road. 

Punjai lies at the southern bank of the Palar river. You can reach it by taking the Kanchipuram to Vandavasi/Dindivanam/Pondicherry road. Turn into the village road leading to Punjai just after you have crossed the bridge over the (dry) Palar river. (*) After about one kilometer Where there is a sign board of the Centre) turn right. Upon entering the village turn left and immediately right. You will see the Centre on your left hand right. If you approach Kanchipuram from the Dindivanam and/or Vandavasi direction turn left just before the bridge across the Palar river and follow the directions from (*).

In Kanchipuram itself you can take any bus going into the direction of Vembakkam, Perungattur, Randam, Moranam or Kalavai. Get off at the government school in Aiyankarkulam. From here the Centre is a 15 minute walk. Alternatively, you can take a '(share) auto' which will drop you at Aiyankarkulam or, for a higher price, at the Centre.

If you plan to visit us, please do call or e-mail prior to your visit to fix up an appointment: we encourage people to come and see our work-in-progress, but at the same time these visits should not disrupt our educational and artistic activities (Contact)



Sponsor Us

The Sangam welcomes financial contributions of individuals, organizations and corporates. Donations to support the Sangam and its work can be made by a sending a Cheque or Demand Draft to the following bank accounts:

  • Local donations in Indian rupees, made by an Indian donor or a donor authorized to donate in local Indian currency: account number 10943781408 of the State Bank of India, Kanchipuram Branch-0853, 16 Gandhi Road, Kanchipuram-631501 (India)

  • Donations in foreign currency can be sent to the Meenambakkam Foreign Branch of the State Bank of India (the correspondent bank for the Kanchipuram Branch of the State Bank of India): SWIFT CODE SBININBB298 in favour of account number 0853/10943781419 of the Tamil Nadu Kattaikkuttu Kalai Valarchi Munnetra Sangam, 36 Punjarasantankal Village, Aiyankarkulam Post-631502, Kanchipuram District, Tamil Nadu, India.

Donations should be made in the name of The President, Tamil Nadu Kattaikkuttu Kalai Valarchi Munnetra Sangam, Centre for Performing Arts, 36 Punjarasantankal Village, Aiyankarkulam Post-631502, Kanchipuram District, Tamil Nadu, India. All local donations in Indian rupees will be acknowledged by a receipt stating the amount and the Income Tax exemption details of the Sangam.

Outside India

Friends and patrons of the Sangam living outside India can transfer their donation in foreign currency directly to the State Bank of India in favour of the Kattaikkuttu Sangam (see above) or send their contribution to the following bank accounts of the Kalai Manram Foundation (Stichting Kalai Manram), Utrecht, The Netherlands:

  • ABN-AMRO account no. 51.01.49.472, Utrecht
  • Postbank account no. 06.35.567, Utrecht
The Kalai Manram Foundation will acknowledge every donation and will see to it that the donations are channeled in their entirety to the Sangam in India.

The accounts of the Sangam and Kalai Manram are subjected to an annually audit and have to be approved by well-established chartered accountants in Chennai (India) and Amstelveen (The Netherlands) respectively.



Requests for performances

Performances (all-night or condensed) and demonstrations of Kattaikkuttu, including make-up and explanation in English, for smaller or larger groups of visitors can be arranged on request at the Sangam's own small auditorium in Kanchipuram. When you are interested in bringing your visitors to see the Centre for Performing Arts, the Kattaikkuttu Youth Theatre School or live Kattaikkuttu in Kanchipuram, or when you would like to have more information about the possibilities to organize a Kattaikkuttu performance at a site of your own preference, please get in touch with the Sangam's office (Contact).



Workshops and training for students interested in Kattaikkuttu

Actor's training in Kattaikkuttu and/or training to play the harmonium, mrdangam/dholak, and mukavinai, as well as tavil and natasvaram can be organized for non-Sangam members on request. The Sangam has a limited capacity to accommodate Indian and foreign students, who wish to train under a traditional Kattaikkuttu teacher (vattiyar) in the form of a short workshop or for a longer period of time. Please contact the Sangam's office for further information.



Documentation

Video & VCD

Recordings of the following performances and interviews with performers have been documented on video:

  1. The Bending of the Bow depicting the marriage of Draupadi and Arjuna (90 mins.) performed by the women's group of the Sangam. With English introductions to each new episode of the story. Original format Umatic.

  2. The Magic Horse (100 mins.): .): children's play in Tamil on the themes of communication and power (sakti) and written by P. Rajagopal. Original format VHS.

  3. The Mahabharata (9 hours). The full Mahabharata in Kattaikkuttu style performed by a group of sixty actors and actresses on the occasion of India's fifty years of independence. Titles in English introducing each episode. Original format Betacam; price of VHS copy (3 tapes): individuals Rs. 3750 (US $ 78); institutions Rs. 5760 (US $ 120) plus postage and bank charges.

  4. The South Indian Theatre Festival 2000 (120 mins.) by Felix van Lamsweerde in collaboration with the Sangam. This video documents 29 performances in different styles (classical, folk, and modern) and different languages by theatre groups from Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu that took place during the South Indian Theatre Festival held in Kanchipuram in March 2000. For further information please contact Lalita Media, The Netherlands, by sending an e-mail to lamsweerde@quicknet.nl or by accessing home.wanadoo.nl/lalitamedia/index.htm

  5. In Their Own Words: The unheard history of the rural stage in North Tamil Nadu as told by four of its professional exponents (119 mins.) by Hanne M. de Bruin and P. Rajagopal
    Language: Tamil with English subtitles.
    Original format: Betacam SP, available on VHS format
    Research and interviews: Hanne M. De Bruin and P. Rajagopal
    Production, editing and translation: Hanne M. De Bruin
    Footage and sound: Time Frames, Chennai (India)
    © 2001 International Institute for Asian Studies, P.O. Box 9515, 2300 RA Leiden, the Netherlands [ISBN 90-74917-25-9; NUGI 086]

    The video features interviews with four professional exponents of the rural stage in North Tamil Nadu, South India. The interviewed performers - two women and two men - are representatives of the Devadasi, Kattaikkuttu and Natakam traditions, which are different but interconnected rural popular theatre and dance forms.

    The video portraits of the performers document the impact of recent social and economic change on the form, content, and organization of the rural performing arts in North Tamil Nadu. They offer a unique, inside perspective on the negotiation of cultural rights, social status, gender, and the contestation of tradition and modernity that involve performers, audiences, and patrons in dynamic economic, social and moral contexts.

  6. Documentry about the Kattaikkuttu Youth Theatre School made by Petra Maartense (2004). For further information please contact Petra Maartense, Stichting Happy View, The Netherlands, by sending an e-mail to petra.maartense@sx4all.nl.

  7. Video documentation of the Kuttu Festival 2005. The footage includes all the three performances by the students of the Kattaikkuttu Youth Theatre School (Magic Horse, Veriyattam and Milky Ocean), all the Kattaikkuttu performances and an edit of all performances, including Kattaikkuttu, which took place during the five nights of the Festival. Separate DVDs or the complete set of 18 DVDs can be ordered from the maker, Sue Rees (USA), E: beep@well.comor visit www.suerees.org.

  8. A day in the life of the students of the Kattaikkuttu School: rehearsals and performance of the all-night play Dice and Disrobing (March 2006) by Sue Rees, E: beep@well.com or visit www.suerees.org

To inquire about the availability of copies of the videos mentioned under 1, 2, 3, and 5 please contact the Sangam's office.
The proceeds from the sales of copies of these videos will be used to support the activities of the Sangam.


Books

The following books are available with the Sangam and/or the publishers:
P. Rajagopal, 1995, Pancha Bhutam (The Five Elements). Tamil script of the play published by the Tamil Nadu Kattaikkuttu Kalai Valarchi Munnetra Sangam. Price: Rs. 145 (US $ 3) plus postage and bank charges.

Hanne M. de Bruin, 1998, Karna Moksham or Karna's Death: A Play by Pukalentippulavar. Publications du Département d'Indologie - 87. A Tamil play translated by Hanne M. de Bruin. Pondicherry (India): Institut Français de Pondichéry, École Française d'Extrême-Orient, International Institute for Asian Studies. Price: Rs. 380 (US $ 8) plus postage and bank charges.

Aiyappan & The Magic Horse (in English) by P. Rajagopal, Evelien Pullens and Hanne M. de Bruin, Chennai: Tulika Publishers. Age: 10+. Contact: Tulika, 13 Prithvi Avenue, Abhiramapuram, Chennai-600018, E: tulikabooks@vsnl.com, I: www.tulikabooks.com. Aiyappan & The Magic Horse tells the life-story of fifteen-year old Aiyappan, who is one of the students at the Kattaikkuttu Youth Theatre School and who performs the role of clown in the play The Magic Horse. Price Rs. 150. The play-script of The Magic Horse (Mayakkudirai) is available in Tamil, too, with Tulika (Price Rs. 15)


Selected bibliography

If you would like to read more about the Kattaikkuttu theatre or the Sangam this is a selected bibliography of essays and books:

de Bruin, Hanne M., 1988. "The art of Terukkuttu." Frontline (Madras) 4, 15 (July 25-August 7, 1987):56-73.

de Bruin, Hanne M. and Mina Swaminathan, 1992. "Folk theatre on the threshold: A Kattaikkoothu festival." Frontline (Madras) 9, 6 (March 27, 1992):100-103

de Bruin, Hanne M. and Clara Brakel-Papenhuyzen 1992 "The death of Karna: Two sides of a story." Asian Theatre Journal 9, 1 (Spring 1992):38-70

de Bruin, Hanne M., 1993. "Kattaikkuttu: The folk theatre of Tamil Nadu." Theatre Intercontinental: Forms, Functions, and Correspondences. Eds. C.C. Barfoot and Cobi Bordewijk. Amsterdam-Atlanta: Rodopi, 115-139

de Bruin, Hanne M., 1998. "Studying performance in South India: Theories and practice." South Asia Research (New Delhi) 18, 1 (Spring 1998):12-38. Special Issue on the Performing Arts of South Asia. Ed. Stuart Blackburn

de Bruin, Hanne M., 1998. Karna Moksham or Karna's Death: A Play by Pukalentippulavar. Publications du Département d'Indologie - 87. A Tamil play translated by Hanne M. de Bruin. Pondicherry (India): Institut Français de Pondichéry, École Française d'Extrême-Orient, International Institute for Asian Studies [ISSN 0073-8352]

de Bruin, Hanne M., 1999 Kattaikkuttu: The Flexibility of a South Indian Theatre Tradition. Gonda Indological Studies 7. Groningen (The Netherlands): Egbert Forsten [ISBN 9069801035]

de Bruin, Hanne M., 2000. "Naming a theatre in Tamil Nadu." Asian Theatre Journal 17, 1 (Spring 2000):98-122

de Bruin, Hanne M. (Ed.), 2001, Seagull Theatre Quarterly 31 special issue about Hybrid Theatres in India, edited and introduced by Hanne M. de Bruin. Calcutta (India): The Seagull Foundation for the Arts.

de Bruin, Hanne M., 2003. "Challenges to a folk theatre in Tamil Nadu". Indian Folklore Research Journal (Chennai) 1, 3 (December 2003):1-14.

de Bruin, Hanne M., 2004. "The Devadasi debate and the public sphere". Folklore, Public Sphere and Civil Society edited by M.D. Muthukumaraswamy and Molly Kaushal. New Delhi & Chennai: Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts and National Folklore Support Centre.

de Bruin, Hanne M. 2005. Indian Folklife (A Quarterly Newsletter from National Folklore Support Centre) 20 (July 2005): Teaching and transmission of Indian Performing Arts edited and introduced by Hanne M. de Bruin. Chennai: National Folklore Support Centre.

de Bruin, Hanne M., "Donning the vesam in Kattaikkuttu." In Shulman, David and Deborah Thiagarajan (Eds.) Masked Ritual and Performance in South India: Dance, Healing, and Possession. Ann Arbor: Centers for South And Southeast Asian Studies, The University of Michigan, 107-134.

Frasca, Richard Armand, 1990. The Theatre of the Mahabharata: Terukkuttu Performances in South India. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.

Frasca, Richard Armand, 1998. "The Dice Game and the Disrobing (Pakatai Tuyil): A Terukkuttu Performance. Introduced and Translated by Richard A. Frasca." Asian Theatre Journal 15 (Spring 1998), 1:1-44.

Hiltebeitel, Alf, 1987. The Cult of Draupadi. Vol. 1, Mythologies: From Gingee to Kurukshetra. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

Hiltebeitel, Alf, 1992. "Transmitting Mahabharatas: Another look at Peter Brook." The Drama Review 35, 3 (T 135 Fall 1992):131-159.

Iyengar, Sameera (ed.), 2004, "Kattaikkuttu Sangam: creating artists, developing audiences". Theatre of India. Edited by Sameera Iyengar, concept Sanjna Kapoor & design Anisha Heble. Mumbai: Prithvi Theatre.

In addition to these publications in English, essays and books on Kattaikkuttu/ Terukkuttu are available in Tamil, German and Dutch. A few essays on Kattaikkuttu can be found on the internet:

http://www.powerofculture.nl/uk/specials/kattaikkuttu/

http://www.iias.nl/oideion/journal/issue01/bruin-za/index-a.html

http://www.iias.nl/oideion/journal/issue03/bruin/index-a.html


Events

http://www.prakritifoundation.com/samavshm/rajagopl.html

http://www.niwi.knaw.nl/en/oi/nod/classificatie/D35300/toon



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