Koothu

What it is

Koothu is drama in the Tamil language, and it mixes several arts at once. Players act, dance and sing, while a narrator called the kattiyakaran tells the story aloud behind them. The plots come from the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, other mythology and local folk tales. Sangam literature, including Silappatikaram, gives a detailed description of the form. Koothu was never only amusement. In villages it carried religion and history to people who did not read, so a performance doubled as a lesson. The word koothu also means a performance, and it appears inside the names of many related art forms.

Origins and history

Koothu grew out of the old Tamil land, Tamilakam, and Tamil Nadu has known it since the Sangam period. Its roots lie in ancient Tamil music and in the dance forms of the region. When Tamil people migrated to other lands, they carried the art with them. It reached Sri Lanka and Fiji. In Fiji it is known as tirikutu and is performed by men during temple festivals. In the early 2020s, COVID-19 lockdowns stopped public gatherings, and many artists struggled to earn a living.

Forms and variations

Koothu is a family of arts rather than a single one. Terukkuttu means mobile performances that move in a procession, while Kattaikkuttu is narrative theatre, often played through the night on a fixed stage. Other names mark other subjects. Nattu Koothu, Kuravai Koothu and Valli Koothu show the lives and cultures of different peoples of the Tamil country. Samaya Koothu takes religion for its theme, and Porkaala Koothu, Pei Koothu and Thunangai Koothu turn to martial arts and war. Beyond Tamil Nadu there are Chakyar Koothu and Ottan Koothu, the latter a tribal ritual dance. Even string puppetry, Bommalattam, is called thol pavai koothu, the dance of leather dolls.

How it is staged

Performances happen outdoors, in the open. Temple grounds and village squares serve as the stage, and most shows are tied to a festival. The players, called koothar, wear wooden headgear, painted faces, heavy anklets and costumes with swirling skirts. Music comes from traditional instruments, and the kattiyakaran narrates in the background while the actors dance the story. Terukkuttu troupes travel in procession; Kattaikkuttu plays often run overnight. Training is passed on in a koothu pattarai, a theatre workshop, under a nattuvanar, or teacher. Performers were once nearly all men, and women have joined in modern times.

Today and change

Troupes still perform in Tamil Nadu in the twenty-first century. Groups such as Koothu-P-Pattarai keep the art in view, and schools such as Kattaikuthu Gurkulam train new artists, alongside other training programmes. The practice is kept beyond Tamil Nadu too. Tamil communities in Sri Lanka and Fiji have carried their own versions on, and in Fiji the men who perform at temple festivals call it tirikutu. The early 2020s were hard, because COVID-19 lockdowns closed public gatherings and left artists short of ways to earn a living. Today women take part as well, where once performers were almost all men.

How Koothu is kept

Koothu is staged outdoors, usually at a temple festival, on a fixed stage or along a route through the streets. The koothar, the players, arrive in costume: wooden headgear, painted faces, heavy anklets, swirling skirts. Music starts, and the kattiyakaran narrates the story behind the dancers. The actors dance and act the scenes. Terukkuttu moves in procession, while Kattaikkuttu plays often run all night. Performances are dedicated to Hindu goddesses, among them Mariamman and Draupadi. Training happens in a koothu pattarai, a workshop, under a nattuvanar.

When and where

Koothu is performed at festival times, not on one fixed date. Most shows are tied to temple festivals honouring Hindu goddesses, and they take place in the open air, in daylight or after dark. Kattaikkuttu performances commonly last through the night. Timing follows the local festival calendar rather than a single shared day.

Koothu belongs to Tamil Nadu, where it has been part of life since the Sangam period, and it is performed there in temples and village squares. Tamil migration carried it to Sri Lanka and to Fiji, where a version called tirikutu is performed by men during temple festivals. Troupes such as Koothu-P-Pattarai and training schools continue the work in Tamil Nadu.

What Koothu means

For the people who keep it, koothu is more than amusement. It carries stories drawn from the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, mythology and local folklore, and it also teaches rural audiences about religion and history. Many performances are dedicated to Hindu goddesses, among them Mariamman and Draupadi, so the stage can be a place of devotion as well as display. Training happens in a koothu pattarai under a nattuvanar, which is how the knowledge passes from one generation of koothar to the next.

Questions people ask about Koothu

See also

PulikaliPainted tigers and leopards dance through Thrissur on the fourth day of OnamBhangraA Punjabi harvest dance, first kept by farmers and now performed worldwideGhazalA short rhyming poem of love and parting, recited and sung from Arabia to South AsiaQawwaliDevotional Sufi singing from South Asia, led by hereditary parties at shrines

Good reading and sources

• Remembered realitiesThe Hindu, Article
• Remembered realitiesThe Hindu, Article

• Koothu on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• Wikidata recordOpen data

It may contain mistakes. Traditions differ from one family, village and community to the next, and the people who keep them know them best. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-05.