Exponent Usha Nangiar staged the Ramayana character 'Ahalya' for the first time in the art form that evolved in Kerala as an off-shoot of 'Koodiyattam', a two-millennium-old Sanskrit theatre which UNESCO has recognised as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.
The show, presented here as part of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale last evening, essentially essayed the angst of the 'Ahalya', wife of sage Gautama Maharishi, whose curse turned her into a stone before she regained her body on blessing by Lord Rama.
The performance titled 'Ahalya' came as a conclusion to a pioneering 'Pancha Kanyaka' project that Usha has been involved for the past one-and-a-half decades.
Already, the 44-year-old artiste has staged the other four women characters