Performing Raavan: How The Visual Arts Recreate A Divisive Figure

Raavan has become a significant discourse of culture as far as aesthetic forms are concerned. The traditional pattern of Ramayana views Raavan as a villain or an antagonist with clear bifurcation of negativity and Rama as a central character with a positive mindset.

Regarding a cultural towering up, Kerala considers Raavan an important through-line character in the art forms as an intermedial character. During the time of veterans like Saktibhadra of the 7th century and Kaplingadu Namboodiri of the 18th century contributed much to forming different perspectives about different characters of Ramayan, especially Ravana. Koodiyattam, Kathakali, and Koothu presented these perspectives through visual negotiation. The character discourse of Raavan in various visual arts of Kerala either adds up or omits the situations based on the necessity of kinesthetics.

Raavan is a central character in many performing and literary forms, such as Ravana Kaviyam from Tamilnadu and even the Malayalam plays of C.N Sreekandan Nair.

Most of the puppetry traditions have an intense depiction of Raavan as a character throughout the performance, like Tholu Bommalattam in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Togalu Gombeyatta in Karnataka, Chammadyache Bahulya of Maharashtra and Ravana Chayya in Odisha.

The perspective of looking at Raavan as a character is mainly through the episode of war between Ram and Raavan, which is included in Yudha Kanda. In the later stages of development of the Nangiar Koothu, a female performance form of Kerala, Mandodari imitates the character of Raavan. This marks the presence of Raavan in the art form choreographed by Usha Nangiar, one of the prominent artists of Koodiyattam and Nangiar Koothu. The performance of Ravana Leela can be historically marked as a protest against ignoring Dravidian culture, marking the importance given to Raavan.

Raavan in Koodiyattam takes over the valorous hegemony in scenes like Jatayuvadham, Ashokavanikangam, Toranayudhangam, etc., of Acharya Choodamani of Sakthi Bhadra. Toranayudhangam explores Raavan's character through different techniques, such as Kailasodharanam or Parvativiraham.

Raavan lifts the mountain Kailasa to move ahead as his chariot hits the hill. Parvativiraham is also a scene which is connected with Kailasodharanam. Lord Shiva and Parvati quarrelled because of Shiva’s love for Ganga. While quarrelling, Raavan lifts Kailasa and Parvati with fear and hugs Shiva. Ravana was given Chandrahasa by Shiva as he was the reason to redeem their relationship. These scenes elevate the valorous Raavan as an articulator of the dramatics in Koodiyattam.

Artists like Sivan Namboodiri enthusiastically place Raavan as an essential character through artistic eloquence and dramatic calibre. The episode of Jatayuvadham emphasises Raavan's valour, in which he succeeds in kidnapping Seeta and killing Jatayu by cutting off the wings. Jatayuvadham is also one of the famous episodes in Ravi Varma's painting, which has a human-like image and colour patterning.

Kathakali, on the other hand, amplifies the character of Ravana through plays like Ravanotbhavam(The Birth of Ravana), Ravana Vijayam ( The Victory of Ravana) and Bali Vijayam (The Victory of Bali). The play of Ravanotbhavam begins with a monologue of tantedattam, “I feel happy. What is the reason for that?”

The self-exposition of the character who has succeeded with all the comforts and happiness is seen in the theatrical buzz. Ravanotbhavam shows the courage of a character who acquired the power of success through hard work.

In the monologue, he says, “I possessed the boons. Brahma did not give me. I grabbed it from Brahma". The absence of female characters to establish Raavan's manhood is also an important perspective of Ravanatobhavam. Ravana Vijayam extols the arrogant nature of Raavan, who rapes Rambha, the divine beauty, to express his anger on his way to fight with Vaishravana.

A woman who is hesitant to sleep with him is conquered to express his masculinity through an act of rape. The episode, entitled with a positive term like Rambha proves, is another irony connected with the play from the perspective of gender. Vaisravana and his acceptance become a significant problem for Ravana when expressing his dominance, including rambha pravesam.

In Ravanotbhavam, Raavan also narrates that Kaikasi cries when she sees the pathetic condition of her children and the happiest condition of Vaisaravana, who is the stepbrother of her kids. Raavan’s arrogant nature is skilfully represented by eminent artists like Kalamandalam Ramankuti Nair, who have utilised Kathakali's techniques. Dominance and arrogance are expressed through different methods in Kathakali.

In the significant scenes, the techniques like nirvahana (flashback), pakarnnattam (transformed acting), and nokkikanal (to look at the other character from top to bottom) also undertakes the sthayi bhava (permanent emotion) of Ravana as a significant character in both Kathakali and Koodiyattam.

In contrast with the performativity of Koodiyattam and Kathakali, Ramayanam Prabadha Koothu, one of Kerala's prominent narrative arts, manifests a simulacrum of the nuncupative structure. As an oral form, it has the flexibility to tell stories by explaining slokas or referring to the stories mentioned in Ramayana. A student of Koothu learns Ramayanam Koothu as a base for explaining slokas through paraphrasing and analysing.

Raavan is a major character in buddha kandam, especially in Ravana Vadham's situation. There is also a detailed description of Raavan in rakshasolpati to explain the birth of rakshasas. The brave nature of the character is exposed through situations like his combination with Surpanakha after her nose was cut. The stories and perspectives of Raavan are different in different styles of Koothu, such as Ammanur, Mani, or even Kalamandalam.

Raavan is a socio-cultural indicator of masculine identity, which determines his power position through various situations in the visual policies of the art forms. The character displays the typical gender stereotyping of a manly character by expressing veera/ valour as emotion in various art forms. It negotiates the identity of antagonist/ anti-hero attributes through multiple situations in the stories and art forms focusing on Raavan.

In today's context, with Rama's righteousness as the central fulcrum, Raavan as a character broadens the scope of performance from a mere villain character to a brave warrior.