Well-known Chenda player Kalamandalam Kesavan Poduval, known more as a Kathakali percussionist, passed away recently. His passion towards the percussion instrument made him take it to the higher plane.
The hilly surroundings of Anakkara in Palakkad district was where Poduval lived till 25, showing promise as a chenda artiste in the solo tayambaka concert steeped in classical Malamakkavu style. Along with his two brothers, he was mentored by their father Kudalil Achutha Poduval. Then, in 1956, the youngster opted to play for Kathakali and joined Kalamandalam, the dance-drama’s premier institution in Cheruthuruthy, 35 km east of his house near scenic Kumbidi,
under the illustrious Krishnankutty Poduval and Achunni Poduval. Soon after his course, Kesava Poduval joined Muthappan Kaliyogam at upstate Parassini near Kannur. That stint (1961-63) ended ahead of an invitation from an institute south of Kochi.
Legion of disciples
In 1964, Poduval joined RLV College of Music and Fine Arts in Tripunithura and served the institution for 22 years. Besides training a good line-up of students, Poduval also got a chance to prove his percussive skills and emerge as a fairly busy performer across Kerala.
After his retirement from RLV Poduval conducted private tuitions, grooming students in Kathakali chenda, tayambaka and even melam—the festival ensemble spanning no less than three hours.
“Age was no bar. From children to the middle-aged, the master took each under his wings. Females were no taboo,” points out Gopikrishnan Thampuran, a frontline disciple of Poduval . “He won’t lose his poise with the below-par or lazy.”
Unruffled conduct and subtle chenda-playing were the hallmarks of the maestro. Staying calm enabled him to maintain a twin career, though by the mid-1970s he decided to focus more on Kathakali chenda than the tayambaka.
“Old-timers say tayambaka’s loss ended up to be Kathakali’s gain,” recalls Gopikrishnan, who took Poduval to his ancestral land four years ago to film a documentary on the master. (The octogenarian had left his native village six decades ago). In 2017, the short film NadaKesavam was released at a function held in Tripunithura to honour Poduval, a winner of the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi award.
Author-scholar T.S. Madhavan Kutty notes a symbiotic relation between tayambaka and Kathakali chenda. “Trained Kathakali drummers tend to be poetic in their tayambaka,” he states. “In other words, Kathakali chenda can make your tayambaka suitably restrained.”
Poduval, essentially, was both. Never the outgoing type, his calm attitude reflected while playing the chenda as well. Kathakali veteran Sadanam Krishnankutty says background percussion was safe and sturdy when Poduval led it. “Technically, we are from different schools. Yet, if it’s him on the chenda, we never discussed stage procedures in advance,” he says.
Incidentally, Krishnankutty insisted that Poduval must let his son learn maddalam, that plays complementary to the chenda in Kathakali. Result: Kalamandalam Sasikumar proved his virtuosity and creativity on the maddalam, and also teamed up with his father on Kathakali daises featuring the slow and fast choreographies.
Maddalam guru Gopikkuttan Nair, Sasikumar’s colleague at Kalamandalam, remembers his annual Sabarimala trips that he undertook with Poduval . “ On Vishu days, we’d present Kathakali at the Ayyappa temple,” he says. The shows were invariably led by Kalamandalam Krishnan Nair, who was also Poduval’s colleague at RLV.
Kathakali artiste Geetha Varma recalls the days when Poduval joined a troupe largely comprising women . “Inside the van and at the greenroom, he would be typically withdrawn. But behind the hand-held curtain, when I’d portray the character and pay the ceremonial obeisance, he’d encourage me with a pat on my shoulder. That was inspiring.”
Cherished moments
Vocalist Kalamandalam Sreekumar recalls the 1996 journey to Dehradrun for a performance. “In wintry Dehradun, we were to wear sweaters. Poduval wooed us into the age-old tradition of performing bare-chested.” Chimes in musician Pathiyoor Sakarankutty: “Never will Poduval distract anyone on stage with his showmanship.” Top chenda artiste Kalamandalam Krishnadas concurs, adding, “No off-key note. So musical!”
“Such assets existed even as a student at Kalamandalam,” says Panjal Unnikrishnan, his contemporary at the institution. “As he was much older and experienced, we would take tips on chenda lessons from him. A couple of years later, I accompanied him at a tayambaka. It was terrific!,” he adds.
Kuttipuzha Balachandran, Poduval’s student at RLV, reveals the master’s love for cinema posters. Adds Gopikrishnan: “Clock repair was a parallel interest.”
But the maestro’s active life turned listless when Poduval’s son Sasikumar met with a fatal road accident in 2010. It made the master reclusive. For chenda lovers, though, memories would resonate.
The writer is a keen follower of Kerala’s performing arts.