Pannisseri Nanu Pillai
Encyclopedia
Pannisseri Nanu Pillai (11 September 1885 – 20 August 1942) was a poet, scholar, ascetic, critic and artist from Kerala
, India.
He was born in Kannamkuzhy house of South Maruthoorkulangara village in Karunagappalli
taluk, Kollam District, Kerala. His father was Vayalil PappuKurup and mother Planullil Kalyani Amma. His father died when Pillai was 8 and his mother when he was 11. This put him under the patronage of his brother and his uncle. He was introduced to the world of letters by Vellimana Sambhu Potty and Bahu Asan.
Formal schooling was done in the village primary school followed by that of Kollam High School. The sudden demise of his brother and familial disintegration put an abrupt end to formal learning. However he mastered Sanskrit
language from Karingattil Nanu Asan and learned logic, grammar, poetics and dramas on his own. Ingraining the essence of yoga
and vedanta
, he came to be reckoned as a logician.
Pannisserri Nanu Pillai, a revolutionary kathakali
exponent of yesteryears who took the art form to the masses was a multi-faceted personality. He was proficient in languages such as Malayalam, Sanskrit, English, Tamil
, Hindi
, Telugu
, Kannada
, Bengali
, Arabic etc. Affinity in spirituality took him to Sree Neelakanda Teerthapada Swami in 1913, to become his chosen disciple. Later he became the disciple of Sree Chattampi Swami and had close relations with Sree Narayana Guru
, that guru once came over Pannisseri House. Pannisseri could attain ‘Jnana
Nishta’ by virtue of his acquiring enlightenment of salvation. He secured the title ‘Vidyapanan’ after his treatise The Objectivity of the Spirit. He also took it a blessing to have a talk with Mahatmaji
while he visited Kerala during the National agitation.
Pannisseri Nanu Pillai composed four attakathas: Nizhalkuttu, Bhadrakalivijayam, Padukapattabhishekam and Sankaravijayam which are widely accepted in the world of kathakali. Nanu Pillai wanted to revolutionise the art form and succeeded in it. His endeavours popularised kathakali. His childhood affinity towards art found its culmination in a consolidation of the ethnic dance-dramas by way of creating contributions to the stage. This led to the creation of Nizhalkuthu attakkatha. A major step towards revolutionising the kathakali was achieved when the play Nizhalkuthu
was enacted in temples. It was daring experiment with two unheroic rustic characters the ‘Malayan and ‘Malayathi’ when only mythical characters of heroic dimensions ruled the stage.
Thottampatt is an ancient lyrical offering in the form of folk song performed in Bhadrakali
temples of Kerala. Pannisseri's second creation Bhadrakali Vijayam is the outcome of the influence of Thottampattu and the famous Tamil epic Silappatikaram on his creative genius. Beyond the scripts for stage performance, he had also mastered stagecraft
and had given training in stage performance for aspirants.
The next to enrich his contribution was Paduka Pattabhishekam the merit of which is endorsed in superlatives by the great poet Vallathol.
The first ever written biography in Malayalam is The Complex History of Sree Neelakanda Theertha Pada Swami. It is a joint literary venture of Pannisseri along with his friend Sree Vardhanam Krishna Pillai. Written in 1364 pages comprising two volumes, the book is an invaluable contribution among biographies. Pannisseri has to his credit the drama Markendeyam Prakaranam, Sooryasatakam (translation), Chitrodayamani Bhashakavyam (trans), Vimarsana Sanchika. His Kathakali Prakaram is the most authoritative and informative theoretical text for kathakali. The anthology Kathakali Prakaram is undoubtedly the most basic authentic work on dance-drama. Beside that he has authored many books on spiritual topics. He translated the book written by Chattampi Swamikal Adibhasha from Tamil to Malayalam. His Sankara Vijayam (1941) is a garland of the significant events in the life of Sree Sankaracharya, the founder of ‘Advaita philosophy and the exemplary Scholar. The debut performance of this was made in Kaladi Sankara Madom itself. It became progressive in placing the human figure Sankara as its focal centre. As a social reformer also Pannisseri had close ties with Islam & Xian theologists. Yusuff Issudin Maulavi and Mohamed Kunju Maulavi were his bosom friends.
The mosque was established at Maruthoorkulangara by the initiative of Pannisseri as recorded by Vidvan Ishak Sahib. The establishment of the village school, the temple renovation, founding of the Sanskrit School at Puthiyakavu are a few to mention among his social services. The fight for temple entry of the low caste
s and that against the partisan movement of Punnasseri Neelakanta Sharma are testimonial of his progressive turn of mind. Pannisseri had an array of luminaries like Nadavathu Mahan Namboothiri, Muloor S Padmanbha Panicker, Sahitya Panchanan P K Narayana pillai, Sambasiva Sastrikal, V Krishnan Thampi, Ulloor, Vallathole, Atmananda Swami, Erath Krishnan Asan, M R Krishna Warrier as his friends. The great kathakali veterans like Mathoor Kunju Pillai panicker, Mankulam Vishnu Namboothiri, Chenganoor Raman Pillai
, Keerikkattu Narayana pillai, Haripad Ramakrishna Pillai and Madavoor Vasudevan Nair were frequenters to Pannisseri.
Prof. Mankompu Sivasankara Pillai is his dear disciple. Thus it was at the helm of popularity that Pannisseri bid farewell forever and orphaned the stage and Janakai Amma his wife and two children. On August 20, 1942 while watching his disciple perform the Kamaladhalam he breathed his last. His life has been documented and was telecasted on Kairali channel
.
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
, India.
He was born in Kannamkuzhy house of South Maruthoorkulangara village in Karunagappalli
Karunagappalli
Karunagappally is a gramapanchayath and Taluk in Kollam district, Kerala, India. Karunagappally is situated 27 km north to Kollam....
taluk, Kollam District, Kerala. His father was Vayalil PappuKurup and mother Planullil Kalyani Amma. His father died when Pillai was 8 and his mother when he was 11. This put him under the patronage of his brother and his uncle. He was introduced to the world of letters by Vellimana Sambhu Potty and Bahu Asan.
Formal schooling was done in the village primary school followed by that of Kollam High School. The sudden demise of his brother and familial disintegration put an abrupt end to formal learning. However he mastered Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
language from Karingattil Nanu Asan and learned logic, grammar, poetics and dramas on his own. Ingraining the essence of yoga
Yoga
Yoga is a physical, mental, and spiritual discipline, originating in ancient India. The goal of yoga, or of the person practicing yoga, is the attainment of a state of perfect spiritual insight and tranquility while meditating on Supersoul...
and vedanta
Vedanta
Vedānta was originally a word used in Hindu philosophy as a synonym for that part of the Veda texts known also as the Upanishads. The name is a morphophonological form of Veda-anta = "Veda-end" = "the appendix to the Vedic hymns." It is also speculated that "Vedānta" means "the purpose or goal...
, he came to be reckoned as a logician.
Pannisserri Nanu Pillai, a revolutionary kathakali
Kathakali
Kathakali is a highly stylized classical Indian dance-drama noted for the attractive make-up of characters, elaborate costumes, detailed gestures and well-defined body movements presented in tune with the anchor playback music and complementary percussion...
exponent of yesteryears who took the art form to the masses was a multi-faceted personality. He was proficient in languages such as Malayalam, Sanskrit, English, Tamil
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
, Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
, Telugu
Telugu language
Telugu is a Central Dravidian language primarily spoken in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, where it is an official language. It is also spoken in the neighbouring states of Chattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa and Tamil Nadu...
, Kannada
Kannada language
Kannada or , is a language spoken in India predominantly in the state of Karnataka. Kannada, whose native speakers are called Kannadigas and number roughly 50 million, is one of the 30 most spoken languages in the world...
, Bengali
Bengali language
Bengali or Bangla is an eastern Indo-Aryan language. It is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises present day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and parts of the Indian states of Tripura and Assam. It is written with the Bengali script...
, Arabic etc. Affinity in spirituality took him to Sree Neelakanda Teerthapada Swami in 1913, to become his chosen disciple. Later he became the disciple of Sree Chattampi Swami and had close relations with Sree Narayana Guru
Narayana Guru
Sri Nārāyana Guru , also known as Sree Nārāyana Guru Swami, was a Hindu saint, sadhuand social reformer of India. The Guru was born into an Ezhava family, in an era when people from backward communities like the Ezhavas faced much social injustices in the caste-ridden Kerala society...
, that guru once came over Pannisseri House. Pannisseri could attain ‘Jnana
Jnana
Jñāna or gñāna is a Sanskrit and Pali word that means knowledge. It has various nuances of meaning depending on the context. The idea of jnana centers around a cognitive event which is recognized when experienced...
Nishta’ by virtue of his acquiring enlightenment of salvation. He secured the title ‘Vidyapanan’ after his treatise The Objectivity of the Spirit. He also took it a blessing to have a talk with Mahatmaji
Mahatma Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi , pronounced . 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was the pre-eminent political and ideological leader of India during the Indian independence movement...
while he visited Kerala during the National agitation.
Pannisseri Nanu Pillai composed four attakathas: Nizhalkuttu, Bhadrakalivijayam, Padukapattabhishekam and Sankaravijayam which are widely accepted in the world of kathakali. Nanu Pillai wanted to revolutionise the art form and succeeded in it. His endeavours popularised kathakali. His childhood affinity towards art found its culmination in a consolidation of the ethnic dance-dramas by way of creating contributions to the stage. This led to the creation of Nizhalkuthu attakkatha. A major step towards revolutionising the kathakali was achieved when the play Nizhalkuthu
Nizhalkuthu
Nizhalkuthu is a 2002 Indian film directed, written and co-produced by Adoor Gopalakrishnan. The film explores the recesses of the human consciousness. The film stars Oduvil Unnikrishnan, Narain , Murali, Sukumari, Reeja, Nedumudi Venu, Vijayaraghavan, Jagathi Sreekumar and Tara Kalyan...
was enacted in temples. It was daring experiment with two unheroic rustic characters the ‘Malayan and ‘Malayathi’ when only mythical characters of heroic dimensions ruled the stage.
Thottampatt is an ancient lyrical offering in the form of folk song performed in Bhadrakali
Bhadrakali
Bhadrakāli , is one of the forms of the Great Goddess mentioned in the Devi Mahatmyam. In Sanskrit, the word Bhadra means "blessed", "auspicious", "fair", "beautiful", "good", "fortunate", "prosperous"....
temples of Kerala. Pannisseri's second creation Bhadrakali Vijayam is the outcome of the influence of Thottampattu and the famous Tamil epic Silappatikaram on his creative genius. Beyond the scripts for stage performance, he had also mastered stagecraft
Stagecraft
Stagecraft is a generic term referring to the technical aspects of theatrical, film, and video production. It includes, but is not limited to, constructing and rigging scenery, hanging and focusing of lighting, design and procurement of costumes, makeup, procurement of props, stage management, and...
and had given training in stage performance for aspirants.
The next to enrich his contribution was Paduka Pattabhishekam the merit of which is endorsed in superlatives by the great poet Vallathol.
The first ever written biography in Malayalam is The Complex History of Sree Neelakanda Theertha Pada Swami. It is a joint literary venture of Pannisseri along with his friend Sree Vardhanam Krishna Pillai. Written in 1364 pages comprising two volumes, the book is an invaluable contribution among biographies. Pannisseri has to his credit the drama Markendeyam Prakaranam, Sooryasatakam (translation), Chitrodayamani Bhashakavyam (trans), Vimarsana Sanchika. His Kathakali Prakaram is the most authoritative and informative theoretical text for kathakali. The anthology Kathakali Prakaram is undoubtedly the most basic authentic work on dance-drama. Beside that he has authored many books on spiritual topics. He translated the book written by Chattampi Swamikal Adibhasha from Tamil to Malayalam. His Sankara Vijayam (1941) is a garland of the significant events in the life of Sree Sankaracharya, the founder of ‘Advaita philosophy and the exemplary Scholar. The debut performance of this was made in Kaladi Sankara Madom itself. It became progressive in placing the human figure Sankara as its focal centre. As a social reformer also Pannisseri had close ties with Islam & Xian theologists. Yusuff Issudin Maulavi and Mohamed Kunju Maulavi were his bosom friends.
The mosque was established at Maruthoorkulangara by the initiative of Pannisseri as recorded by Vidvan Ishak Sahib. The establishment of the village school, the temple renovation, founding of the Sanskrit School at Puthiyakavu are a few to mention among his social services. The fight for temple entry of the low caste
Caste system in India
The Indian caste system is a system of social stratification and social restriction in India in which communities are defined by thousands of endogamous hereditary groups called Jātis....
s and that against the partisan movement of Punnasseri Neelakanta Sharma are testimonial of his progressive turn of mind. Pannisseri had an array of luminaries like Nadavathu Mahan Namboothiri, Muloor S Padmanbha Panicker, Sahitya Panchanan P K Narayana pillai, Sambasiva Sastrikal, V Krishnan Thampi, Ulloor, Vallathole, Atmananda Swami, Erath Krishnan Asan, M R Krishna Warrier as his friends. The great kathakali veterans like Mathoor Kunju Pillai panicker, Mankulam Vishnu Namboothiri, Chenganoor Raman Pillai
Chenganoor Raman Pillai
Guru Chenganoor Raman Pillai, also spelt Chengannur Raman Pillai, was a celebrated Kathakali artiste from Kerala in south India...
, Keerikkattu Narayana pillai, Haripad Ramakrishna Pillai and Madavoor Vasudevan Nair were frequenters to Pannisseri.
Prof. Mankompu Sivasankara Pillai is his dear disciple. Thus it was at the helm of popularity that Pannisseri bid farewell forever and orphaned the stage and Janakai Amma his wife and two children. On August 20, 1942 while watching his disciple perform the Kamaladhalam he breathed his last. His life has been documented and was telecasted on Kairali channel
Kairali TV
Kairali TV is an Indian television channel broadcasting in the Malayalam language catering to the Malayalam speaking population in Kerala as well as abroad . The channel, headquartered in Trivandrum, has studio facilities in Trivandrum as well as Kochi. Malayalam Communications Limited is the...
.
External links
For more information about his attakatha 'Nizhalkuthu' see:- http://mahabharata-resources.org/nizhalkuttu/nizhalkuttu.html
- http://www.narthaki.com/info/articles/art168.html