Trace India's Intangible Cultural Heritage listed by UNESCO - Part IV

Team FWDI 07 Feb 2023 550 views
Trace India's Intangible Cultural Heritage listed by UNESCO - Part IV
The Tradition of Vedic Chanting

The traditional way of reciting the Vedas - Vedic chanting is inscribed by UNESCO on the list on Intangible cultural heritage. Vedas will be the primary way to obtain knowledge on Hindu beliefs, myths, rituals and customs that get back to about 3,500 years to enough time of the Aryans. You will find 4 main Vedas - Rig, Yajur, Sama and Atharva. The Vedas though originally written in Vedic Sanskrit, have since been translated to Classical Sanskrit. Brahmins (priests) passed on the data of Vedas in form of oral rendition down the generation.

Vedic chanting is taught right from childhood to ensure that the sound of each terms remain unaltered and they follow a distinctive types of pronunciation. Although Vedas remain an important part of Hinduism, only 13 Vedic recitation branches have survived from over 1,000 branches. These recitation schools are actually only within Maharashtra (central India), Kerala and Karnataka (southern India) and Orissa (eastern India).

Mudiyett, Ritual Theatre, Kerala

Mudiyett is a ritual theatre of Kerala that re - enacts the story of Goddess Kali and Demon Darika, Performed for purification, the 4 days event is an integral part of the Bhagwati cult performed by people of the Marar and Kuruppu communities in Ernakulam, Thrissur, Kottayam and Idukki districts of Kerala. Following the summer harvest, the complete community participates in the reenactment of mythological story of the Goddess and the Demon.

The initial ritual theatre of Kerala is a communal activity now inscribed on the set of UNESCO intangible cultural heritage.

A complete Mudiyettu performance takes a total of 16 people the netire community without difference in caste or creed. The figure of Kali is colored on to the floor of the temple and a specific tune is sung talking about the goddess from head to toe, invoking the Goddess prior to the ritual. Music artists known as experts of sopana sangeetham, a branch of carnatic music accompanies the ritual.

Kutiyattam (Koodiyattam), Sanskrit Theatre, Kerala

Local Kerala, the Kutiyattam is India's oldest existing traditional theatre. Inscribed on 2008 by UNESCO as the intangible cultural heritage India is a dying art that requires preservation. It began usually a temple event, performed only by Chakyar and Nangiar, women of Nambiar caste.

The theatre form uses components of Sanskrit theatre and Koothu, components of theatre as old as the Sangam era. The dance performance is actually associated with many musical instruments that Kuzhithalam is performed only by an associate of the Nambiar caste. Each one of the performers of the art have to undergo arduous training of respiration control, understated muscle shifts and appearance for ten to 15 years before they to really perform in the temple celebrations.

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