This was something I have grown up hearing about, though I was never sure whether to believe the stories or not. Hailing from Tripunithura, which was the capital city of the erstwhile Kingdom of Cochin, I have been raised never to trust anybody from 'down-south', as they put it :-) Today, as I was reading up on an old article about Kathakali, I was surprised by what I found. Copy-pasting an excerpt of the write-up,with all respects to the author.
It is interesting to note that back then, there were clear dividing lines between north and south Kerala! "The Cochinites do not take kindly to the Travancoreans. There is an age-old feud between these two parts of Kerala. The Cochin folk are cleverer than their neighbours, and therefore more cunning; but the Travancoreans are a more generous and brave people. Cochin women are famous for their beauty and the Travancorean men are jealous of this in their hearts of hearts!"
"And this petty jealousy and provincial feeling colour subtly all that they say and do and extend themselves to the art of Kathakali. The Travancoreans think that their presentation of this art is the best and the most classical; the Cochin dancers do not even bother to listen to such foolish claims!" This, thus, was the level of and approach to dance writing in that era.
"There is no doubt whatsoever that Kathakali as practised and presented in Cochin is purer in form, richer in abhinaya and more elaborate in technique. These differences do exist and it is observed by competent critics."
Source: http://www.narthaki.com/info/tdhc/tdhc1.html
I couldn't help but smile. But it indeed is strange yet true that the age-old feud still lives on in every Cochinite's and Travancorean's mind. Whether they say so openly or not depends on their personal choice, though.I used to wonder...why are they being branded like this? It's like,"Is he/she from 'down-south'?Be careful with him/her!You never know when they will strike!" :-D
Do such geographical character divides exist elsewhere too?Is it based on the genetic make-up of the people in that area? But what about inter-territorial marriages and their off-springs?What with so many marriages happening without keeping the Cochin-Travancore divide in mind, isn't it about time that the characteristics got distributed a bit? It is said back home that if a person from Malabar/Cochin chooses to settle down in Travancore, with time, he/she begins to behave like a Travancorean too! Go figure! ;-)
"And this petty jealousy and provincial feeling colour subtly all that they say and do and extend themselves to the art of Kathakali. The Travancoreans think that their presentation of this art is the best and the most classical; the Cochin dancers do not even bother to listen to such foolish claims!" This, thus, was the level of and approach to dance writing in that era.
"There is no doubt whatsoever that Kathakali as practised and presented in Cochin is purer in form, richer in abhinaya and more elaborate in technique. These differences do exist and it is observed by competent critics."
Source: http://www.narthaki.com/info/tdhc/tdhc1.html
I couldn't help but smile. But it indeed is strange yet true that the age-old feud still lives on in every Cochinite's and Travancorean's mind. Whether they say so openly or not depends on their personal choice, though.I used to wonder...why are they being branded like this? It's like,"Is he/she from 'down-south'?Be careful with him/her!You never know when they will strike!" :-D
Do such geographical character divides exist elsewhere too?Is it based on the genetic make-up of the people in that area? But what about inter-territorial marriages and their off-springs?What with so many marriages happening without keeping the Cochin-Travancore divide in mind, isn't it about time that the characteristics got distributed a bit? It is said back home that if a person from Malabar/Cochin chooses to settle down in Travancore, with time, he/she begins to behave like a Travancorean too! Go figure! ;-)
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