Performing Arts & Culture

Kerala has one of the most concentrated performing arts traditions of any region in India. The classical forms are deeply codified, the ritual forms are still living religious practice, and the institutions that teach them are accessible to the visitor in ways that are rare elsewhere in the country.

This page covers the performing arts we organise for guests visiting Kerala. We have kept the descriptions practical. Some of these forms reward serious attention; others are best taken in shorter doses. Where the experience is genuinely subjective or demanding, we say so.

The classical performing arts of Kerala

Kerala’s classical tradition is built around a set of distinct forms, each with its own conventions, training lineage, and audience.

The principal forms

• Kathakali. Kerala’s signature classical form, a stylised dance-drama with elaborate costume, sculpted facial makeup, and a vocabulary of mudras (hand gestures) and facial expressions used to enact stories from the Mahabharata, Ramayana and Puranic literature. A traditional full performance can run from late evening to dawn; the tourist-format performances run for one to two hours and include a demonstration of the makeup application beforehand.
• Mohiniyattam. A solo female classical dance form unique to Kerala, characterised by slow, sinuous movement and feminine grace. Less theatrical than Kathakali, more contemplative.
• Koodiyattam. Kerala’s classical Sanskrit theatre, recognised by UNESCO as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. The oldest continuously performed theatre tradition in India, with performance conventions that go back at least a thousand years.
• Ottanthullal. A satirical solo dance-recitation form created by the eighteenth-century poet Kunchan Nambiar. The performer narrates and dances a story while social commentary is woven through the verse. Distinctively accessible compared to the more codified classical forms.
• Krishnanattam. A devotional dance-drama focused on the life of Krishna, performed at the Guruvayur Temple. Predates Kathakali and is one of its direct stylistic ancestors.

Where to watch

• Kerala Kathakali Centre, Fort Kochi. Established programme with daily Kathakali performances and a Kalaripayattu show on alternate evenings. The makeup demonstration starts about an hour before the performance.
• Greenix Village, Fort Kochi. A multi-form cultural centre with Kathakali, Kalaripayattu, Mohiniyattam and other forms presented in rotation.
• Mudra Cultural Centre, Thekkady. Daily Kathakali and Kalaripayattu performances, useful for guests staying in the Thekkady wildlife circuit who would not otherwise see the classical forms.
• Various theatres in Munnar. Smaller venues with daily evening performances, mostly Kathakali.

For guests with a serious interest, we can arrange longer-format traditional performances at Margi or other dedicated institutions, where Kathakali runs through the night as it traditionally did.

Kerala Kalamandalam, Cheruthuruthy

Kerala Kalamandalam, near Cheruthuruthy in central Kerala, is the state arts university and the principal teaching institution for Kerala’s classical performing arts. Founded in 1930 by the poet Vallathol Narayana Menon, the institution played a critical role in rescuing several of these forms from decline during the colonial period.

Today, Kalamandalam is a residential university where students from age ten upwards train in Kathakali, Mohiniyattam, Koodiyattam, Ottanthullal, percussion, music, and several other classical forms. A visit to the campus is one of the most rewarding cultural experiences available in Kerala.

The structured visit programme allows guests to:

• Move through the practice halls (kalaris) where students at different stages of training are working
• Watch Kathakali makeup being applied at close range, with the senior students explaining each layer
• See Mohiniyattam being learned in real time
• Sit in on a percussion class where the chenda and maddalam are being taught
• Speak with the senior teachers about the lineage and the curriculum

This is genuinely how the classical forms continue to exist in Kerala. Watching them being learned is, for many guests, more affecting than watching the polished tourist-circuit performances.

Best visited on weekdays during the academic term, October to March. The campus is closed during summer holidays and holiday weeks within the term.

Kalaripayattu, the martial art form

Kalaripayattu is widely considered the oldest martial art in the world. Native to Kerala, it was banned by the British in the nineteenth century, along with several other native martial traditions across South India, specifically because they did not want a population trained in armed and unarmed combat. The art survived underground in pockets, particularly in temple-affiliated kalaris (training grounds), and was revived in the twentieth century after independence.

Kalaripayattu trains body flexibility, reflex, and combat skill across striking, kicking, grappling, weapons (long staff, short staff, sword and shield, urumi or flexible sword), and the related healing system, kalari chikitsa.

Where to watch

• Kerala Kathakali Centre, Fort Kochi. Kalaripayattu performances on alternate evenings.
• Mudra Cultural Centre, Thekkady. Daily Kalaripayattu performances.
• Kadathanadan Kalari & Navarasa Kathakali Centre, Thekkady. Daily evening shows available

The tourist-format Kalaripayattu performance runs for around an hour and showcases the principal weapons, body-flip sequences, and the urumi flexible sword which is unique to Kerala. Worth watching even for guests who would not otherwise be drawn to martial arts.

Theyyam, the ritual performance of Northern Kerala

Theyyam is one of the most distinctive ritual performances surviving anywhere in India. Performed at temples and family shrines across Northern Kerala (principally Kannur and Kasaragod districts), Theyyam involves a performer who undergoes elaborate makeup, costume and ritual preparation, then becomes the deity for the duration of the performance. The deity speaks, dances, blesses devotees, and in some forms walks through fire.

Theyyam is genuinely religious practice, not staged performance. There are over four hundred recognised Theyyam forms, each linked to a specific deity, lineage and temple. The visual impact is extraordinary: the makeup, costumes, headgear and choreography are unlike anything else in the Indian performance tradition.

Worth being honest about Theyyam. It is a uniquely powerful experience for guests who connect with it. It is also subjective. Performances often happen at small temples in remote areas, involve significant travel time, run for hours, and take place among large local crowds with limited seating and amenities. Some guests find the first thirty minutes mesmerising and then start to fade as the heat and crowd take their toll. Others find it the most moving thing they encountered in India.

We tell guests this honestly at the planning stage. If you are seriously interested in Theyyam, we will route you to a temple where the performance is happening, give you the historical and ritual context, and arrange the logistics. If you are unsure whether it is for you, we usually suggest a Kathakali or Kalaripayattu performance at a Kochi theatre as the better introduction to Kerala performance art.

Season: November to May. Theyyam does not happen during monsoon. Specific performance dates depend on individual temple festival calendars and are confirmed only a few weeks in advance.

Tholpavakoothu, the temple shadow puppetry

Tholpavakoothu is Kerala’s traditional shadow puppet form, performed exclusively at Bhadrakali temples in central Kerala. Leather puppets are manipulated behind a back-lit white cloth screen, with a chant-narrator performing the Ramayana story across multiple nights of the temple festival cycle.

This is a niche but distinctive form. The performance happens through the night, with the audience seated in the temple courtyard. For guests with a serious cultural interest and tolerance for late-night programmes in temple settings, we can arrange to attend a Tholpavakoothu performance during the festival season (typically December to May).

Best understood as something to add to a serious performing arts itinerary rather than a standalone draw.

Pulikali, the tiger dance of Thrissur

Pulikali is a folk performance form from Thrissur, performed during the Onam festival each year. Performers paint their bodies as tigers and dance through the streets of Thrissur to accompanying drums. Hundreds of performers participate in the public Onam procession, and the visual effect is genuinely striking.

Pulikali happens once a year, during the four-day Onam festival in August or September depending on the Malayalam calendar. We cover Pulikali in more detail on our [Festivals experience page] (forthcoming, will be cross-linked once live).

How to plan a performing arts trip

For most guests, performing arts is one element woven into a wider Kerala or South India trip rather than a standalone focus. Two patterns work well.

The Kochi cultural evening (one or two evenings). A Kathakali performance at Kerala Kathakali Centre or Greenix on the first evening, followed by a Kalaripayattu performance on the second. Both are walking distance or a short auto ride from most Fort Kochi accommodations. This is the standard way most guests encounter Kerala performance art.

The serious cultural circuit (3 to 5 days within a wider trip). A Kathakali or Kalaripayattu performance at Kochi, a half-day visit to Kerala Kalamandalam at Cheruthuruthy, and (for guests visiting in the Theyyam season) one to two nights in Kannur or Kasaragod for Theyyam. Best for guests with a genuine performing arts interest.

For guests visiting during Onam (August or September), we build the Pulikali street procession at Thrissur into the itinerary as a major highlight.

We work with established performing arts venues and avoid the diluted hotel-lobby demonstrations that some operators default to. The classical forms reward proper attention in proper venues, and the ritual forms (Theyyam, Tholpavakoothu) cannot be authentically recreated outside their temple context.

How to plan with us

Write to hello [@] greenearthtrails [dot] com or use the enquiry form. Tell us your dates, the number of guests, and how deep your interest in Kerala performing arts goes. We will respond within twenty-four hours with a proposal.

For guests with a focused interest in a specific form (long-format traditional Kathakali, serious Koodiyattam, Theyyam in its proper temple setting), tell us at the enquiry stage. These need more lead time than the standard cultural circuit and we book accordingly.