UpdateBot at 13:36, 15 June 2022

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{{Short description|Indian actor}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2017}}
{{Use Indian English|date=October 2017}}
{{BLP sources|date=February 2013}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Māni Dāmodara Chākyār
| image = Mani Damodara Chakyar.jpg
| imagesize =
| caption = Guru Māni Dāmodara Chākyār
| birth_date = 1946
| birth_place = [[Kozhikode]], [[Kerala]], India
| height =
| death_date = 2022
| death_place =
| yearsactive = 1960-
| birth_name = Māni Dāmodara Chākyār
| religion = 
| website =
| awards = Kerala [[Sangeet Natak Akademi Award]]: 2000
}}

'''Mani Damodara Chakyar''' (Māni Dāmodara Chākyār) (1946&ndash 2022;) was a [[Kutiyattam]] and [[Chakyar Koothu]] artist in [[Kerala]] state of [[south India]]. He is a nephew and disciple of legendary [[guru]] ''Nātyāchārya Vidūshakaratnam [[Padma Shri]]'' [[Māni Mādhava Chākyār]]. He belongs to the great Mani [[Chakyar]] tradition of Koodiyattam and Chakyar koothu.<ref>P.T. Narendra Menon, ''Kulapati of Koodiyattam'', Sruti- India's premier Music and Dance magazine, August 1990 issue (71), p.27.</ref>

He studied ''[[Chakyar Koothu]]'' and ''[[Koodiyattam]]'' in the traditional way for more than 30 years under the direct guidance of Māni Mādhava Chākyār. He has studied [[Sanskrit]] and [[Nātyasāstra]] in the traditional way. He holds a [[Master's degree]] in [[Sanskrit]] literature as well. He used to be high school Sanskrit teacher in [[Kozhikode]].<ref>Das Bhargavinialayam, [[Mani Madhaveeyam]], Department of Culture, Govt. of Kerala</ref>

[[File:Thoranayudham- Madras1.jpg|thumb|left|200px|First ever Koodiyattam performance outside Kerala: [[Madras]] 1962.]]
He was a member of legendary guru [[Padma Shri]] [[Māni Mādhava Chākyār]]'s Koodiyattam troupe which performed Koodiyattam outside [[Kerala]] for the first time. In that performance of ''Thoranayudham Koodiyattam'' (1962, [[Madras]]), he played the role of [[Vibhishana]] with his guru Mani Madhava Chakyar (as [[Ravana]]). He is an exponent of traditional devotional Koothus and Koodiyattams, such as ''Anguliyanka'', ''[[Mattavilasa Prahasana]]'', ''Mantranka'', ''Ezhamanka'' (seventh act of ''Ascharyachoodamani'').

[[File:Mani damodara Chakyar-mattavilasa.jpg|thumb|right|180px|Mani Damodara Chakyar as Kapali in [[Mattavilasaprahasana|Mattavilasam]] Kutiyattam]]
He performs a huge number of Atiyantara koothu of the Mani family (the koothus which are assigned to the family from ancient times) consisting of all these devotional ritualistic [[koothu]] and [[Koodiyattam]] in famous temples in Kerala for decades. The famous temples include Karivellur [[Shiva]] Temple of [[Kannur]] district; Matayikkavu [[Bhagavati|Bhagavathi Temple]], [[Taliparamba]] [[Rajarajeshwara Temple]], [[Kottiyoor]] Perumal Temple, Kanjirangad Shiva Temple, [[Sree Ramaswami temple|Thiruvangad Sree Ramaswami Temple]] of [[Thalassery]] and Cherukunnu Chiraykkal Bhagavathi Temple of [[Kannur]] district; [[Lokanarkavu Temple]]of [[Vatakara]], Thali (Tali) [[Shiva|Siva]] Temple, Sreethiruvilayanadukavu Bhagavathi Temple and Thiruvachhira [[Krishna|Sree Krishna]] temple of [[Kozhikode district]]; [[Thirunavaya]] Navamukunda temple, Thrikkandiyur Shiva temple, Methrikkovil Siva temple, Pandamangalam [[Krishna]] temple of [[Kottakkal]] and Kotakkal Vishwambhara (Shiva) temple of [[Malappuram]] district; Panamanna Shankaranarayana temple, Kallekkulagara Emoor Siva temple, [[Thiruvegappura]] Siva temple and [[Killikkurussi Mahadeva Temple]] of [[Palakkad]] district and [[Triprayar]] [[Sri Rama]] temple and Peruvanam Shiva temple of [[Cherpu]] of [[Thrissur]] temple.

[[File:Mani Damodara Chakyar as Nayaka.jpg|thumb|left|190px|Mani Damodara Chakyar as Nayaka (hero) King Udayana in ''Swapnavasavadattam Koodiyattam'']]
He was a member of [[Māni Mādhava Chākyār]]'s troupe that performed Koodiyattams in places outside [[Kerala]] such as [[New Delhi]], [[Banaras]], [[Mumbai]], [[Ujjain]], [[Bhopal]] and [[Madras]]. He had the good fortune to perform in many important conferences and seminars such as World Sanskrit Conferences at [[Banaras]], [[Bangalore]] and [[Thrissur]].

He has performed both as ''Nayaka'' (hero) and ''Vidushaka'' (court jester) in Kudiyattams such as ''Swapnavasavadattam'', ''Naganandam'', ''Subhadradhananjayam'', etc. When [[Māni Mādhava Chākyār]] choreographed and directed [[Kalidasa]]'s ''[[Mālavikāgnimitra]]'' and ''[[Vikramorvaśīya]]'' for the first time in the history of [[Kudiyattam]], it was Mani Damodara Chakyar to whom he gave the role of ''Nayaka''. Mani Damodara Chakyar staged ''Malavikagnimitram'' and ''Vikramorvasheeyam'' at Kalidasa Academy, [[Ujjain]] under the guidance of his guru.

He was the first Koodiyattam student who received scholarship from MHRD [[New Delhi]]. Later, both junior and senior fellowships were awarded to him by the same department. He is the recipient of many prizes from [[temples]] and cultural organisations. Kerala [[Sangeet Natak Academy]] honored him with award for his contributions to Chakyar Koothu and Koodiyattam (2000). He received the Kerala Kalamandalam V S Sharma endowment award for 2007.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IER20071030014751&Title=Kerala&rLink=0|title=Kalamandalam awards announced|publisher=[[The New Indian Express]], 30 October 2007}}{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> In 2017, he was honoured with [[Kerala Kalamandalam#Awards instituted by Kalamandalam|Kalamandalam Award]] for Koodiyattam.<ref>{{Cite news|url = http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-kerala/kalamandalam-fellowship-for-sadanam-balakrishnan/article19979008.ece|title = Kalamandalam Fellowship for Sadanam Balakrishnan|newspaper = The Hindu|date = 4 November 2017|access-date = 9 November 2017|archive-date = 29 December 2019|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191229095415/https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-kerala/kalamandalam-fellowship-for-sadanam-balakrishnan/article19979008.ece|url-status = live}}</ref>

==Books==
* {{Citation
| authorlink=Mani Damodara Chakyar
| last=Chakyar
| first=Mani Damodara
| title=''Ramayanam Prabandham (Balakandam)''
| publisher=Mani Damodara Chakyar, Lakkidi
| year=2009
| isbn=
}}

==See also==
* [[Māni Mādhava Chākyār]]
* [[Chakyar Koothu]]
* [[Koodiyattam]]
* [[Kathakali]]
* [[Mohiniyattam]]
* [[Thulall]]
* [[Killikkurussimangalam]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|2}}

==Sources==
* {{Citation
| authorlink=Das Bhargavinilayam
| last=Bhargavinilayam
| first=Das
| title=Mani Madhaveeyam (biography of Mani Madhava Chakyar)
| publisher=Department of Cultural Affairs, [[Government of Kerala]]
| year=1991
| isbn=81-86365-78-8
}}
* ''[[Sruti magazine|Sruti]]'', August 1990 issue (71)

==External links==
{{commons category|Mani Damodara Chakyar}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20090807025441/http://geocities.com/chavanapuzha/cmp-main-page.htm Images and more about Sri [[Rajarajeshwara Temple]] of [[Taliparamba]].]

{{Contains special characters|Indic}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chakyar, Mani}}
[[Category:1946 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Performers of Indian classical dance]]
[[Category:Male actors in Malayalam cinema]]
[[Category:Indian male film actors]]
[[Category:Male actors from Kozhikode]]
[[Category:Indian male dancers]]
[[Category:Kathakali exponents]]
[[Category:Dancers from Kerala]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian dancers]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian male actors]]
[[Category:Koodiyattam exponents]]

Mani Damodara Chakyar - Revision history

UpdateBot at 13:36, 15 June 2022