Kathakali Festival Opens in Chennai: Three Schools, Three Nights

Three nights, three schools

An annual gathering of Kathakali performers has begun in Chennai, now in its seventeenth year. The venue is the Bharata Kalakshetra Auditorium at Thiruvanmiyur, and the host is the Kalakshetra Foundation, which works under the Ministry of Culture. Performances run across three evenings, from the eighteenth to the twentieth of September 2026.

This year's organising idea is titled Kadha Rasa Sangama, translated as Confluence of Essence of Stories. Three institutions that teach the form have been invited, each bringing a single production: Sadanam Academy, Kerala Kalamandalam and Margi Theatre.

The opening evening

Proceedings began at a quarter to six, with Shri K. K. Mishra of the Indian Railway Traffic Service, a Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Culture, as chief guest. Shri Suresh Kumar Chikkala, who directs the Kalakshetra Foundation, attended as well.

What is being staged

Sadanam Academy opened with Mandodari. Drawn from the Ramayana, it looks at Ravana in his last moments and at how his queen receives the news of his death.

The second evening belongs to Kerala Kalamandalam, which has turned Ernest Hemingway's novel into Kathakali as The Old Man and the Sea. At its centre is Santiago, the fisherman, and what his endurance costs him.

Margi Theatre closes the festival with Rugmangada Charitham, a story about a king whose devotion is put to the test, and about his keeping of the Ekadasi fast.

Mornings at Rukmini Arangam

Each day also carries a teaching component. Lecture-demonstrations are held in the morning at Rukmini Arangam, and students of the Kalakshetra Foundation perform afterwards.

The institution itself

For an examination, the host matters more than the programme. Rukmini Devi Arundale founded the Kalakshetra Foundation in 1936, and it has since become one of the principal places where Indian classical arts are taught, practised and passed on. Founder, year and city are the details worth fixing in memory.