Nalacharitham is a Kathakali play (Aattakatha) written by Unnayi Warrier. Based on the Mahabharatha, it tells the story of King Nalan and his consort Damayanthi. The play consists of four parts – called First, Second, Third and Fourth Day – each part being long enough to be performed over a full night. The source of the story is the tale of Nalan and Damayanthi as told in the Mahabharatha . In the 18th century, Unnayi Warrier structured the contents of this story as Nalacharitham Attakatha to suit the art-form Kathakali. Nalacharitham is considered the most romantic work of art constructed on the classical basement of Kathakali, which has earned it the epithet of being the Shakuntalam of Malayalam literature."Of heroism and romance" From The Hindu, Jan 14, 2016
First Day: Nalcharitham Onnam Divasam Story line: Sage Naradan tells Nalan about Damayanthi and the need to marry her. Hamsam acts as the messenger to Damayanthi and fills her mind with love for Nalan.
Scene 1 – Nalan and Naradan
Sage Naradan reaches Nalan's kingdom Nishadha and tells Nalan that in Kundinapuri, there is a beautiful damsel named Damayanthi who is sought after even by gods and he should marry her. Nalan wonders what right he, as human being, had to contest with the gods to marry her. But Naradan assures him that as a king, he should endeavour to do it. The Sage wishes him all success and takes leave. Nalan indulges in thoughts about the beauty of Damayanthi. He visualises her in all splendor in every part of her body and comes to the conclusion that he will have no peace of mind until he marries her. He is so astounded by the transcendent charm of Damayanthi that he entrusts his duties as the King to his Minister and goes to the royal garden to find some peace of mind.
Scene 2 – Nalan in the royal garden
In the royal garden, Nalan, enraptured by the description of the beauty of Damayanthi, is further bewitched by the breeze carrying the perfumes of flowers, the trees embraced by flowering jasmine plants, the dancing peacocks and the sound of sweet-singing birds. He sees three swans of different colours on the banks of the pond nearby, of which a golden one engrosses his attention immensely.
Scene 3 – Entry of Hamsam (the golden swan); Nalan and Hamsam
The golden swan Hamsam, spends some time singing and dancing on the banks of the river, and after eating lotus fruits, it proceeds to rest on a lotus leaf. Though bereft and yearning of the damsel Damayanthi, Nalan observes the golden Hamsam during his wanderings in the garden. He catches the bird unawares in its sleep, without disturbing it. The swan, finding itself captured, starts crying aloud that the king is killing it. It is worried about its fate and the thought of its old mother, wife and children becoming orphans in its absence. The King says that he had no intentions of hurting it. He only thought of possessing that virtuous and golden bird as a pet. He allows the bird to fly away freely. When the bird is gone, Nalan once again falls back into his reverie about Damayanthi.
Hamsam, extremely pleased with the righteousness of the King, returns to thank the King and to do something in return for his kindness. It tells the King that it would help him to marry. The bird captures the King's heart by describing the singular beauty and demeanor of Damayanthi. In addition, Hamsam also promises the King Nalan, that it would do his best to persuade Damayanthi to marry him. Nalan is extremely pleased for the favor that came unasked. He hugs the bird as his dearest friend, and sends it as his messenger to Damayanthi.
Scene 4 – Damayanthi and her companions
Damayanthi, on hearing about the virtues of King Nalan from elsewhere, and tormented by the arrows of Kamadeva the god of love, walks around in her garden along with her hand-maidens. To her great surprise and happiness, Hamsam flies in like lightning descending from the heavens. When the swam comes closer, she asks the others to keep away and approaches the bird. But Hamsam continues to move away slowly, luring Damayanthi further and further away from her company. Once assured that they were beyond the reach of the others, Hamsam chides her, saying that though she was grown up enough, her childishness had not lessened, and she were seen trying to embrace the bird, she would be ridiculed. She needn't catch the bird, because it could be trusted. The bird also blessed her to get a King as her husband, who was an ardent lover and her desired sweetheart. The bird earns the trust of Damayanthi by revealing that it lived in the Kingdom of Nalan, tutoring ladies in their etiquette and comportment. Damayanthi, in turn, persuades the Hamsam to describe the beauty and virtues of King Nalan.
Speculating about her secret love for King Nalan, Hamsam encourages her to speak out what she had in her mind, treating it as a friend. Hamsam learns that Damayanthi had been thrust deeply by the arrows of Kamadeva, the god of love. Hamsam declares its intent and conviction – that Nalan and Damayanthi are the best suited couple. Damayanthi entreats the bird to carry her message back to King Nalan, so far kept a secret. To confirm her intention, the Hamsam uses a ploy – it asks her what would happen if she were given away in marriage to somebody else, and would she bestow her love on him? For it would be a deceit if her words turned out to be false. Hamsam insists on getting a prompt answer and Damayanthi assures the bird that none other than Nalan can secure her love, as a river can ultimately flow only into the sea. No hill, even if it tried its best, can change the course of the river. Convinced, Hamsam becomes happy and gets ready to leave, when Damayanthi pleads to it to describe what Nalan looks like. Hamsam draws the image of King Nalan on a lotus leaf. Damayanthi embraces the picture with great relief and sees the bird off. Damayanthi watches the bird flying away, with her mind full of love and gratification.
Second Day: Nalcharitham Randam Divasam
(Story line: Nalan marries Damayanthi, a disappointed Kali sees them dethroned and exiled, suffering and separation in the forest, Damayanthi rescued from a python by a hunter.)
Overcoming many hindrances, Nalan marries Damayanthi and begins to live a happy life. Nalan expresses his affection to her in the Royal garden.
Scene 1 – Nalan and Damayanthi in the Royal garden
Entranced in the beauty of the garden, Damayanthi describes the pleasant sights there — the plants that denote the arrival of spring, flowers covered by beetles, sweet songs of birds and humming of beetles — all appear to her as praise of Kama. Nalan tells her about the troubles he had to overcome to make her his own. They spend some time in the garden, immersed in pleasant exchanges.
Scene 2 – Entry of Kali and Dwaparan
When the gods return to heaven after participating in the marriage of Nalan and Damayanthi, they happen to meet Kali, escorted by Dwaparan. On enquiries, Indran learns that Kali is on his way to marry Damayanthi, unaware that her wedding was over. Indran tells him that his attempt was like trying to build a dam when all the water had flowed out, because Damayanthi had already married a virtuous man named Nalan. When Kali learns that his desire was not to be fulfilled, he becomes angry and vows that he would not allow them to live together happily and he would do all that he could to separate them. The gods try to dissuade Kali from his attempt, and proceed to heaven.
Scene 3 – Scheming the plot: Kali and Dwaparan
They together plot the scheme to separate Nalan and Damayanthi. Since Nalan was very righteous, Dwaparan tells Kali that he could be trapped only through deceit in playing dice. They together decide to persuade Nalan's younger brother Pushkaran to challenge Nalan for a game of dice, in which Nalan could be defeated and exiled.
Scene 4 – Pushkaran, Kali (കലി) and Dwaparan
Pushkaran welcomes the unexpected visitors and describes his pathetic life where he had no royal powers. While enquiring about the purpose of their visit, he also exposes his inferiority complex. Extremely pleased with this congenial situation, they promise Pushkaran to help him defeat Nalan in a game of Dice, send him to the forest and make Pushkaran the King of the land. കലി offers himself as the stake for Pushkaran to start the game, and on being encouraged by the two, Pushkaran challenges Nalan for a game of Dice.
Scene 5 – Nalan, Pushkaran – game of dice, defeat of Nalan
Under Kali's influence, Pushkaran abuses Nalan and challenges him for a game of dice. Nalan, with Damayanthi, comes out of the Palace and tries to dissuade him by scolds and threats. But Pushkaran insists on playing. After a long altercation between the two, Nalan finally sits down to play. With only an ox at stake for Pushkaran, Nalan confidently puts his country and all his wealth at stake, without any fear of being defeated. One by one, Nalan loses all his wealth and the situation comes to such a pass that if he contested again, he would lose his Kingdom and would have to go to the forest. Unruffled by the attempts of Damayanthi to dissuade him from this mad game, Nalan loses everything at stake and Pushkaran wins hands down. As if this were not enough, Pushkaran drives Nalan and Damayanthi out of the country with the worst of abuses. Having lost everything except the dress they were wearing and insulted to the core, Nalan and Damayanthi walk away grief-stricken, which Pushkaran enjoys best.
Scene 6 – Nalan and Damayanthi in the forest
Helpless and frustrated, Nalan and Damayanthi wander in the forest, tortured by hunger and thirst. They happen to see two birds in front of them. Without knowing that they were the same Kali and Dwaparan disguised as birds, Nalan takes off his cloth to use as a net to catch the birds. Immediately, the birds fly away with his only piece of cloth, and Kali enters Nalan, which drives him crazy and senseless. The couple continues to wander aimlessly.
Scene 7 – Nalan and Damayanthi in the deep forest
While wandering through a thick forest, they reach a shelter in the midnight, extremely tired. Fully aware that all their prosperity had vanished, Damayanthi tries to console Nalan. Nalan tries to persuade her to go back to the Palace. But she reminds him of her duty as a committed wife to accompany him wherever he was. Overcome by hunger and thirst, she rests her head on her husband's lap and sleeps.
Being under the influence of Kali, Nalan is distraught by the thoughts of going through the forest along with his wife without any protection and the dangers involved. He thinks that Damayanthi might be safe if she were left alone. Suffering from an unsound mind, he decides to leave Damayanthi to her fate. He lifts her head with trembling hands and lays it down on the floor. He covers his nakedness with one half of the dress torn from Damayanthi’s and leaves her in distress, after praying to all gods to look after her.
Scene 8 – Damayanthi
Waking up from deep sleep and finding herself alone in the midst of a thick forest, Damayanthi is terrified by her loneliness and sorrow. When she doesn’t find Nalan near her, she calls for him to stop hiding and appear before her. She finally realises that she had been abandoned, he might perhaps be gone in search of some cloth to cover him up. She curses Kali, the being responsible for this fate of hers, and walks away through the forest.
Scene 9 – The Entry of the Hunter
A hunter, sleeping in the forest, used only to the sounds of birds and animals, suddenly wakes up hearing human cries and sits up wondering from where it could be. He arms himself with weapons and walks towards the direction from which the sound originated. He realises that it is the sound of a beautiful woman crying for help. He enjoys her beauty from behind a tree and approaches her with wrong intentions.
Scene 10 – Damayanthi and the Hunter