Pedagogical Methods In Teru Kūttu & Other Performing Folk Traditions Of Bhārata|YamunaHarshavardhana

Ours is a knowledge society. Bhāratīya Knowledge Traditions live amidst us as extant non-academic and folk traditions. Many are irreplaceable due to their uniqueness in technique, skill and the purposes they fulfil. They are being unfortunately pushed out due to the indiscriminate promotion of “lifestyle” options which are predominantly non-Bhāratīya and less dhārmik in nature. Examples of our traditions include fine art of various kinds, cloth painting, performing arts such as puppetry, street theatre, magic, martial and sport skills like acrobatics among several other forms. Each of these traditions has methods threaded through it that helps to transfer knowledge from one generation to the next.
Along with so many other functions such as creative and/or purposeful engagement of abilities, several of these systems have acted as the “bridge” between the academic traditions and the lesser educated masses and have helped to take to the remotest people the teachings of dharma as well as messages of social relevance and transformation, in forms that were easy to absorb while retaining the pristine nature of the message. These systems were relevant as long as the community had a say in what kind of education had to be imparted until the current education system was foisted upon us.
The paper draws attention to the contribution of traditional folk art forms to society. Being media of education, they have distinct pedagogical tools which are used by the artists to learn the art and other tools while the content is delivered to the masses; these have been identified and shown. Along with identifying several previously understood tools, the uniqueness of ‘Evanescence’ - a term freshly used by the researcher in the context - which is used exclusively to express bhakti has been shown.
#FolkTheatre #TheruKoothu #StreetPlay #Evanescence #Bharatakoothu #Pedagogy #TamilFolkArt #Dharma #MassEducation #IKS #IndicKnowledgeSystems #IndianKnowledgeSystems #IndigenousKnowledgeSystems #IndianHeritage #IndicHeritage #IndianCulture #IndicCulture #IndianKnowledgeTraditions #IndicKnowledgeTraditions
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[@yamunaharsha]

Namaskaram All! In the talk, I missed out on looping Vinaya (submission). Evanescence itself is a way to reflect Vinaya or submission. Thus, what one learns as an artist is reflected during the performance.