The Vadakkunathan temple of Lord Shiva stands tall on top of a hillock at the center of the teeming city of Thrissur, Kerala. The temple complex houses one of the largest surviving 'Koothambalam', temple theatre structures. An architectural marvel, the koothambalam has an annual performance of the ritual 'koothu' offering to the diety. The 'Ammannur' family conducts nangiar-koothu, chakyar-koothu & koodiyattam performances in the koothambalam every year.
The Vadakkunathan temple in Thrissur has an annual ritual offering of Nangiarkoothu, usually performed by Dr. Aparna Nangiar.
The Vadakkunathan temple of Lord Shiva stands tall on top of a hillock at the center of the teeming city of Thrissur, Kerala. The temple complex houses one of the largest surviving 'Koothambalam', temple theatre structures. An architectural marvel, the koothambalam has an annual performance of the ritual 'koothu' offering to the diety. The 'Ammannur' family conducts nangiar-koothu, chakyar-koothu & koodiyattam performances in the koothambalam every year.
The performance starts one day before
Ashtami-rohini
and lasts 7 days.
The performance starts by 6:00 PM. It is usually performed by
Aparna Nangiar
.
The chakyar-koothu performance spans 41 days ending on
Vijayadasami
. The performance starts by 5:00 PM.
The koodiyattam performance begins on the day of
Vijayadasami
at about 9:00 PM.
Ammannur Kuttan Chakyar performs the koothu and presides over the koodiyattam along with other talented actors