Sita Parityagam
18th January, 2020
Kapila Venu, Kuttiyattam
Sitaram Bagh Temple, Hyderabad
Kapila Venu is a renowned Koodiyattam practitioner and one of the foremost disciples of the legendary Koodiyattam maestro, Guru Ammannur Madhava Chakyar. Being a practitioner of an ancient ritual theatre, she strives to maintain the technical purity and essence of the art form whilst making space for innovation and creativity.
Sita Parityagam is specifically a ‘Nangiar Koothu’ performance – a solo narrative performance style of the female performer of Koodiyattam traditionally known as Nangiar. Sita Parityagam, is based on the story of Lord Rama and Sita as depicted in Maha Kavi Kalidasa’s Raghuvamsha. It is about the ordeal they go through because of her abduction by Ravana and the consequent controversies. The crux of the composition is the struggle of Sita – the pain she goes through after learning about Rama’s abandonment of her and her final journey when she returns to her mother – beautifully explained through ‘netra’ abhinaya (eye expressions) and ‘hasta’ abhinaya (hand gestures) by Kapila Venu.
Artists

Kapila Venu
Venue
Sitaram Bagh Temple is a beautiful shrine in Hyderabad. It is a fine blend of
different architectural styles including South Indian, Rajasthani, Mughal and
European. Set in a 25 acre area with 20ft compound walls, the Temple was built in 1830 by Puranmal Ganeriwala, a banker. It has many courtyards in different architectural styles in wood and stone with stucco finish. The shrine is noted
for its imposing gateways, in three directions – East, West and South. The main
gateway located in the Mallepally- Mangalhat road has a Gopuram sitting on two
walls that have balconies in European style. The main sanctum has idols of Lord Rama and Sita made from marble imported from Rajasthan. Lord Shiva, Goddess Lakshmi, Lord Varadaraja Swamy and Lord Hanuman’s idols are also installed in the inner parts of this temple.