Historical Background

Kerala, the land of charity, is rich in folk-culture, visual arts and festivals. Different religions, groups and communities in their historical evolution have subscribed to the growth of a dreamlike panorama of dance and visual art forms in this region.

Some of them are religious, highly ritualistic, but incorporate dance and music and colours and light. Even the geographical isolation of Kerala had not denied her the chance of inheritance of a common cultural heritage of India. As such the major developments in the cultural history of India had significant impact on the formation of organization of Kerala society. Although it is a compact cultural linguistic area, it was exposed to external influence both from land and the sea. The Aryan culture and the Sanskrit language nourished the indigenous tribal culture and language, defined and categorized by the scholars as Dravidian. The Buddhists, the Jains and the Brahmins had liberally contributed to the religious and social life of the country. Therefore the so-called Hinduism, the religion of the land, was characterized by much synthesis. This particular aspect could be traced in the traditional culture of Kerala.