![]() ![]() The dead are believed to be finally joining “Koothu Perumal,” the lord of dance in the Tamil language, which is one of Shiva’s many epithets. Instead, he directed me to Ragothaman, a priest at a local Shiva temple.Ī trained engineer, the priest said Savukoothu is symbolic of Shiva’s primordial performance. I am still a novice when it comes to the porul (crux) of koothu,” Rajkumar told me. “My grandpa could have given you more details. ![]() But he was too modest to hold forth on the subject itself. For the 38-year-old, who uses only his first name, giving rhythm to “death dancers” has been a family tradition. Curiosity kindled, I began visiting the city’s many crematoria.Īt one such facility, I met the wiry Rajkumar, head of a group of percussion artistes who lead Saavukoothu processions. It is at the Government Museum in the city’s Egmore locality that one expert hinted that even something as raw as Saavukoothu could be linked to Shiva. My search took me to Chennai, the capital of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu and home to perhaps one of the greatest collections of ancient Nataraja statues under one roof. ![]()
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