["Among the performances, Krishnanattam is auspicious" - Kunchan Nambiar]

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Krishnanattam Keli

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          Meaning of the shloka

Krishnanattam Slideshow
 Krishnanattam or Krishnattam is a temple art, performed at Guruvayur Temple as a votive ritual offering by a troupe under the management of Guruvayur Devaswom (Guruvayur - 680 101, Thrissur Dt, Kerala, India). The performance is based on Krishnagiti, a text of sloka-s and padam-s in Sanskrit, composed by Manavedan, the Zamorin King of Calicut, in 1654. Krishna's life as described in detail in the tenth and eleventh cantos of Srimad Bhagavatam, Mahabharatam and Harivamsam is presented as song, dance and acting with musical accompaniments (chengila, ilattalam, shuddha maddalam, toppi maddalam, itakka) in a cycle of eight plays in eight days. The plays are Avataram, Kaliyamardanam, Rasakrida, Kamsavadham, Svayamvaram, Banayuddham, Vividavadham and Svargarohanam (akarakasvabavisva is the mnemonic to remember the names in order).

Royal Temple Theater of Krishnattam A book by Martha Bush Ashton-Sikora, Robert Peter Sikora, A. Purushothaman, A. Harindranath
(Publisher: DK Printworld (2016).
Temple Musical Instruments of Kerala A book by L. S. Rajagopalan that includes details on Chengila, Ilattalam, Maddalam and Itakka, musical instruments used in Krishnanattam (Publisher: Sangeet Natak Academi and DK Printworld (2010).
Krishnanattam - a film by Adoor Gopalakrishnan: A Review

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