November 14th – A Remembrance

Adjacent to the house Dionysia is a new structure built of stone (Krishnashila – a stone used to built sculptures of Gods) which is believed to be housing this great man’s soul. The monument was built one year after his death in 1995 November 14.

Initiated by my Uncle VijayaRaghavan, it took 6 stone workers from kodakara , chalakkudy led by Mr. Basanth Kumar (a very popular mural artist) over a period of 3 months to complete the work. I still remember the huge blocks of solid rock being brought to home in big trucks. It was amazing watching them work. Even moving the stone pieces to even an inch was a mammoth task. The work was completed days before his first death anniversary. The structure has two faces on the elevated stone piece, a happy and sad face on the front and back side respectively which depicts a theater itself.

This is the 14th year of his demise and repeatedly over these years we come together mourn and pray in silence at his monument for the person whom we owe for what we are today. On the day, the structure is decorated with flowers, a lamp is lit and we pray in silence at 1.10pm (the time of his death). And at evening, the entire structure is lit up in earthen lamps. I always have felt rejuvenated by this act and have always made it a point to be here on this day without fail.

In front of the stone block is written (originally in Malayalam – written by my grandfather himself and has been published in various of his books)

“What a great surprise, is it the world that created me or is it me, that who created a world out of me. The answer to these unanswered questions will be written on my death will”

A truly relevant quote of anytime which everyone needs to question and answer himself. But for him, it was a world which he had created with a strong heart and a determined soul.

"Dionysia" – The Birth place of Malayalam Theatres outstanding works

My mind which was freely traveling with the characters in the play, returned back suddenly from a huge blow of sound. It was my Grand Father NN Pillai demonstrating a role to an artist. The rehearsal is going on in full swing, day and night in a building on back of the house. Beside me are my cousins Jinu, Didi and Gayamol. Jitha , another sister is on the other side, she is also an actor in the play. Several of his well acclaimed plays Cross belt, prethalokam, kapalika, guerilla etc were written and directed here. The house is located in a small village named Olassa in Aymanam panchayat , 7 kms west of Kottayam town.

The plays, Rehearsals, actors etc were very much part of our lives from our childhood. We grew up seeing, learning, believing and enacting it. I always have felt that we were blessed to have born here, in” Dionysia” and indeed it’s a matter of pride for us.

It was in 1970 that Dionysia was built and the house warming ceremony took place in September, the same year. As per Chitta (Omana – Grandfathers Sister) it was during this period that “Kapalika” - one of his well acclaimed play was staged and was a big hit during that period. He asked everyone to suggest a name for the house. Various names popped up. Since “Kapalika” was the best run of his plays and since it minted lot of money, the name was highly suggested by everyone. But the last word came from him to name it as “ Dionysia”.

Everyone might have got perplexed by hearing this alien name. But I am sure everyone who heard this from him will have definitely thought, there is something in it. In fact there is a lot in it; it’s a part of our lives.

Dionysia – is a Greek theatre of ancient Greece named after Greek God Dionysus. Even though there are other descriptions of the word, theatre was the meaning which he has opted for his house and that’s what Dionysia is.

Other details pertaining to the word given below.

The Dionysia was a large religious festival in ancient Athens in honor of the god Dionysus, the central event of which was the performance of tragedies and, since 487 BC, comedies. It was the second-most important festival after the Panathenaia. The Dionysia actually comprised two related festivals, the Rural Dionysia and the City Dionysia, which took place in different parts of the year. They were also an essential part of the Dionysian Mysteries.

Rural Dionysia

The Dionysia was originally a rural festival in Eleutherae, Attica (Greek: Dionysia ta kat' agrous - Διονύσια τὰ κατ' ἀγρούς), probably celebrating the cultivation of vines. It was probably a very ancient festival perhaps not originally associated with Dionysus. This "rural Dionysia" was held during the winter in the month of Poseideon (roughly corresponding to December). The central event was the pompe - πομπή, the procession, in which phalloi - φαλλοί were carried by phallophoroi - φαλλοφόροι. Also participating in the pompe were kanephoroi - κανηφόροι (young girls carrying baskets), obeliaphoroi - ὀβελιαφόροι (who carried long loaves of bread), skaphephoroi - σκαφηφόροι (who carried other offerings), hydriaphoroi - ὑδριαφόροι (who carried jars of water), and askophoroi - ἀσκοφόροι (who carried jars of wine).

After the pompe, there were contests of dancing and singing, and choruses (led by a choregos) would perform dithyrambs. Some festivals may have included dramatic performances, possibly of the tragedies and comedies that had been produced at the City Dionysia the previous year. This was more common in the larger towns such as Piraeus and Eleusis.

Because the various towns in Attica held their festivals on different days, it was possible for spectators to visit more than one festival per season. It was also an opportunity for Athenian citizens to travel outside the city if they did not have the opportunity to do so during the rest of the year. This also allowed travelling companies of actors to perform in more than one town during the period of the festival.

The comic playwright Aristophanes parodied the Rural Dionysia in his play The Acharnians.

City Dionysia

Origins

The City Dionysia (Dionysia ta en Astei - Διονύσια τὰ ἐν Ἄστει, also known as the Great Dionysia, Dionysia ta Megala - Διονύσια τὰ Μεγάλα) was the urban part of the festival, possibly established during the tyranny of Pisistratus in the 6th century BC. This festival was held about three months after the rural Dionysia, during the month of Elaphebolion (corresponding to the end of March and the beginning of April), probably to celebrate the end of winter and the harvesting of the year's crops. According to tradition the festival was established after Eleutherae, a town on the border between Attica and Boeotia, chose to become part of Attica. The Eleuthereans brought a statue of Dionysus to Athens, which was initially rejected by the Athenians. Dionysus then punished the Athenians with a plague affecting the male genitalia that was cured when the Athenians accepted the cult of Dionysus. This was recalled each year by a procession of citizens carrying phalloi.

The urban festival was a relatively recent invention, and fell under the auspices of the eponymous archon rather than the basileus, to whom religious festivals were given when the office of archon was created in the 7th century BC.

Pompe and Proagon

The archon prepared for the City Dionysia as soon as he was elected, by choosing two paredroi - πάρεδροι and ten epimeletai - ἐπιμεληταί to help organize the festival. On the first day of the festival the pompe was held, in which citizens, metics, and representatives from Athenian colonies marched to the Theatre of Dionysus on the southern slope of the Acropolis, carrying the wooden statue of Dionysus Eleutherus (the "leading" or the eisagoge - εἰσαγωγή). As with the Rural Dionysia, they also carried phalloi, made out of wood or bronze, and a cart pulled a much larger phallus. Basket-carriers and water- and wine-carriers participated in the pompe here as in the Rural Dionysia.

During the height of the Athenian Empire in the mid-5th century BC, various gifts and weapons showcasing Athens' strength were carried as well. Also included in the procession were bulls to be sacrificed in the theatre. The most conspicuous members of the procession were the choregoi, who were dressed in the most expensive and ornate clothing. After the pompe - πομπή the choregoi - χορηγοί) led their choruses in the dithyrambic competitions. These were extremely competitive, and the best flute players and poets (such as Simonides and Pindar) offered their musical and lyrical services. After these competitions, the bulls were sacrificed, and a feast was held for all the citizens of Athens. A second procession, the komos - κῶμος, occurred afterwards, which was most likely a drunken revelry through the streets.

The next day, the playwrights announced the titles of the plays to be performed, and judges were selected by lot (the proagon - προάγων). It is unknown where the proagon originally took place, but after the mid-5th century BC it was held in the Odeon of Pericles on the Acropolis. The proagon was also used to give praise to notable citizens, or often foreigners, who had served Athens in some beneficial way during the year. During the Peloponnesian War, orphaned children of those who had been killed in battle were also paraded in the Odeon, possibly to honour their fathers. The proagon could be used for other announcements as well; in 406 BC the death of the playwright Euripides was announced there.

Dramatic performances

During the pompe, the Theatre of Dionysus was purified by the sacrifice of a young goat. According to tradition, the first performance of tragedy at the Dionysia was by the playwright and actor Thespis (from whom we have the word "thespian") in 534 BC. His prize was a goat, a common symbol of Dionysus, and possibly the origin of the word "tragedy" (which perhaps means "goat-song").

The next three days of the festival were devoted to the tragic plays. Three playwrights performed three tragedies and one satyr play each, one set of plays per day. Most of the extant Greek tragedies, including those of Aeschylus, Euripides, and Sophocles, were performed at the Theatre of Dionysus. The archons, epimeletai, and judges (agonothetai - ἀγωνοθἐται) watched from the front row.

Comic poets were officially allowed at the contests (agons) held during the City Dionysia, only since 487/86 BCE.^[1] On the sixth day of the festival, five comedies (such as those of Aristophanes) were performed. Comedies were of secondary importance at the Dionysia, and were instead more important to the Lenaia festival earlier in the year. Nevertheless, it was considered a greater honour to win the comedic prize at the Dionysia.

After the classical period in the 5th century BC, older plays could be performed again. It seems that audiences may have preferred this to the production of new plays of inferior quality. The number of plays performed also fluctuated; during the Peloponnesian War, there were usually only three comedies, and comedies were omitted altogether by the 2nd century BC. There do not seem to have been any new tragedies after the 2nd century AD, older plays being exclusively performed by that point.

Another procession and celebration was held on the final day, when the judges chose the winners of the tragedy and comedy performances. The winning playwrights won a wreath of ivy, although, when old plays were performed, the producer was awarded the prize rather than the long-dead playwright.

Significance

Dionysus was often seen as the god of everything uncivilized, of the innate wildness of humanity that the Athenians had tried to control. The Dionysia was probably a time to let out their inhibitions through highly emotional tragedies or irreverent comedies. During the pompe there was also an element of role-reversal - lower-class citizens could mock and jeer the upper classes, or women could insult their male relatives. This was known as aischrologia - αἰσχρολογία or tothasmos - τωθασμός, a concept also found in the Eleusinian Mysteries, on the second day of the Thesmophoria, and perhaps during the chariot procession on the first day of the Anthesteria, another festival of Dionysus.

The plays themselves could highlight ideas that would not normally be spoken or shared in everyday life. Aeschylus' The Persians, for example, while patriotic to Athens, showed sympathy towards the Persians, which may have been politically unwise under normal circumstances. The parodies of Aristophanes mocked the politicians and other celebrities of Athens, even going so far as producing an anti-war play (Lysistrata) at the height of the Peloponnesian War. The circumstances of the Dionysia allowed him to get away with criticisms he would not normally be allowed to voice.

A small tribute to the legend

Dear All,

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Being the grandson of NN Pillai ; i will be happy to share any further information related to his drama, books and theater life.

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Regards,
Midhun Babu