The third edition of Kala Mela, the monthly festival of dance conducted by Kalakshetra under the aegis of The Department of Culture, Government of India, was held at the Bharatha Kalakshetra auditorium on 18-20 September, 2025. This month it was a three-day festival of Kathakali of Kerala performed by students of Kalakshetra as well as artists from Kerala.

Day 1: There was a brief inaugural ceremony beginning with the lighting of the lamp by Kalakshetra board members followed by a welcome address by the Director who spoke about Kathakali and its influence in Rukmini Devi’s dance productions.

The fourth-year students of Kalakshetra began with the invocatory Todayam, that serves as the purvangam for a Kathakali dance drama. The lyrics were by Kottayathu Thampuran. This was followed by an excerpt from the Nala Charitram dance drama, a popular piece from the Kathakali repertoire. The part portrayed was the downfall of Nala from being a great monarch to becoming a destitute due to the conspiracy hatched by his brother Pushkara. Both Pushkara and Nala were well portrayed.

Day 2: The show began with another group from the fourth-year presenting Todayam. This was followed by Porappadu, an introduction of the main characters of a play, presented by six students.

The central piece of the evening was Banayuddham - the story of Bana, the asura and his severe penance for Lord Siva, who grants him the boon of immense strength and power. Banasura then challenges the Lord to battle. Siva advises Bana to be patient as very soon there will be someone to challenge him. The episode closes with Bana wondering who in all the three worlds could possibly pose a threat to the power that he possesses.  The protagonist held the attention of the audience single handedly with his performance.

Day 3: Six second-year students of Kalakshetra performed Pakuthi Porappadu (literally meaning partial entry and exit in the middle of a performance)

The main piece of the day was Bakavadham, another popular excerpt from the Mahabharata and part of the Kathakali repertoire. During their exile, the Pandavas along with Kunti, took shelter in a brahmin home in a village that was being terrorized by Bakasura who demanded a cartload of food to be brought to him and that he would eat the food and the person bringing it. It was the turn of the brahmin to send his son on the mission and the house was enveloped in sadness. On enquiry, Kunti wanted to send Bheema to go and kill him and relieve the sufferings of the villagers. Bheema goes with the food and in a humorous interlude eats the food meant for the demon. Baka in rage engage in a fight with Bheema and is vanquished. Though the fight scene and the introduction of Baka long and loud, it was a riveting performance by all the actors.

Kala Mela turned out to be a successful event once again.