Terukkuttu

Dharumar @Therukkuthu
Dharumar @Therukkuthu

Terukkuttu is a Tamil street theatre form practised in Tamil Nadu state of India and Tamil-speaking regions of Sri Lanka.[1] Terukuttu is a form of entertainment, a ritual, and a medium of social instruction.[2] The terukkuttu plays various themes. One theme is from the Tamil language versions of the Hindu epic Mahabharata, focusing on the character Draupadi.[3] The terms Terukkuttu and Kattaikkuttu are often used interchangeably in the modern times; however, historically the two terms appear to have distinguished, at least in certain villages, between two different kinds of performance: while Terukkuttu referred to mobile performances in a procession, Kattaikkuttu denotes overnight, narrative performances at a fixed performance space.[4]

  1. ^ Sarachchandra, Ediriweera R. (1966). The Folk Drama of Ceylon. Colombo: Department of Cultural Affairs, Ceylon. p. 116. OCLC 63859810.
  2. ^ Varadpande, Manohar Laxman (1990) [1987]. History of Indian Theatre. Abhinav Publications. pp. 39–44. ISBN 978-81-7017-278-9. OCLC 18270064.
  3. ^ Srinivas, Smriti (2004) [2001]. Landscapes of Urban Memory. Orient Longman. p. 23. ISBN 81-250-2254-6. OCLC 46353272.
  4. ^ Bruin, Hanne M de (1999). Kattaikkuttu: The flexibility of a south Indian theatre tradition. E. Forsten. pp. 85–99. ISBN 978-90-6980-103-2. OCLC 42312297.