India: Kochi's Great K V Kathakali Centrehttps://static.wixstatic.com/media/b693b2_4a916df31466496580c7c5bfc5c39e0f~mv2.jpeg/v1/fill/w_1000,h_750,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01/b693b2_4a916df31466496580c7c5bfc5c39e0f~mv2.jpeg

We just finished our first week in Kerala, staying in Kochi at a nice “heritage hotel” with a lovely garden and fish pond to enjoy outdoor meals and the friendly and staff there. We were planing to stay a few days to slow down a little from the pace we were in the last several weeks in Nepal, Bhutan, and northern India. After spending much of our recent weeks on the Himalayan end of the subcontinent, being in south India seems like back in the start of our trip in Bali. They are different of course, but with the relaxed pace, 80 degree humid temperatures, coconut palms everywhere, and proximity to the sea, this is a welcome return to the tropics, but a new experience for us in a place we’ve never been before. The initial idea to visit India on this trip came while noticing attractive airfares between Denpasar (Bali) and Chennai. Looking at the calendar and monsoon paths, it seemed if we wanted to come to south India, we would have to take the long way around and visit here last. By then the idea had stuck and with it, a route through the north of the subcontinent first. So, we’re here now at the tail end of the NE monsoon. We get rain but most of the day is clear.

To avoid the monsoon we started S. India in NW Kerala, in Kochi. We positioned ourselves there very near to the Great K V Kathakali Centre to take advantage of its performances. That part of town isn’t perhaps the most developed for tourists, but the Centre offered the opportunity to see Kathakali dance every night, and music and dance are what we seek wherever we go. Discovering the Kathakali Centre during our planning anchored this first time in Kerala. Their website claimed Kathakali dance, classical Indian music, and classical Indian dance every night. My good friend John Sulak was here some years ago and really enjoyed it. Still the website’s lack of detail made me wonder how often performances really do take place at this point. But indeed, every day the program is 5-6pm Kathakali makeup session, 6-7pm Kathakali dance, 7-8pm martial arts demonstration by a performing family skilled in this art, 8-9pm classical Indian music by different performers/ensembles, and 9-9:45pm classical Indian dance. And in the mornings there is yoga and music therapy with ragas selected for these sessions.

Suchi and Teresa

We came to the Centre every night and extended our stay from 3 to 5 nights because of it. The second extension came about because we learned from Suchi, the Centre's beating heart who presents, organizes, performs, and welcomes you every night, about a special festival taking place for 5 nights at a nearby temple. Fifteen elephants, 210 drummers, trumpets, and lots of people - which well share in a separate post. So we really hit a cultural jackpot with the Great K V Kathakali Centre. If you’re in Kochi, do allow time for it and don’t be surprised if you stay on and on for it. It’s a special place. They get by on a shoestring and the goodwill and cultural pride of the staff and performers. It reminds me of some of my most favorite places in Chicago - Elastic Arts comes quickly to mind.

I started taking videos because the art is amazing and I wanted to share with y’all but eventually also to share with Suchi and the performers we enjoyed so much. These are all below. I apologize that I don't include the artists' names. Suchi will send them and I will add them to this post and the videos' descriptions. Also, when taking video, I nevertheless like to watch the performance directly with my eyes, so occassionally the video framing goes awry.