Kerala Kalamandalam Creates History: First Woman Student Performs Mizhavu Arangettam

In a historic first for Kerala Kalamandalam, theatre practitioner Apurva Arthur has become the first woman student in the institution’s Mizhavu department to perform her arangettam (stage debut).

The performance took place on August 15 at the koothambalam in Cheruthuruthi, near Thrissur, on one of the annual arangettam days at the 96-year-old Deemed University. Families and well-wishers gathered as Apurva, a second-year post-graduate student, took the stage for the morning session featuring mizhavu and Koodiyattam.

Mizhavu — the large copper drum that provides the rhythmic backbone to the ancient Sanskrit theatre form Koodiyattam — has traditionally been a male-dominated discipline. Apurva is among the few women to take up the instrument, and her debut marks a significant shift, bridging contemporary performance with a classical ritual tradition.

Kalamandalam, founded in 1930, is Kerala’s premier centre for classical performing arts.