Sunday, March 12, 2006

Clarification on the Rubaiyya story

Got a comment from T1 on the dance form in Kerala about the authenticity of a "Muslim" dance. So, courtesy the resident Mallu and a bit of help from Wikipedia, here goes:

Oppana is a popular form of social entertainment among the Muslim community of Kerala, south India, prevalent all over, especially in the northern districts of Kannur, Calicut and Malappuram.

Oppana is generally presented by females, numbering about fifteen including musicians, on a wedding day. The bride dressed in all finery, covered with gold ornaments is the chief spectator who sits on a peetam, around which the singing and dancing take place. While they sing, they clap their hands rhythmically and move around the bride using simple steps. Two or three girls begin the songs and the rest join in chorus.

Sometime Oppana is also presented by males to entertain the bridegroom. It usually takes place just before the bridegroom leaves for the bride's residence where the Nikah (marriage) takes place or at the time he enters the Maniyara.

Harmonium, Tabla, Ganjira and Elathaalam are the musical instruments employed for this performance. Only the Mappilapaattu will be sung on the occasion.

The word Oppana may have been derived from an Arabic form Afna. There are two types of Oppana, one is Oppana chayal another is Oppana murukkam. When Oppana chayal is performed, they do not clap their hands. If it begins with Chayal it would also end with Chayal only.

Mappila Paattukal or Mappila Songs are folklore Muslim devotional songs in the Malayalam language. These are sung by Muslims (Mappilas) of Malabar.

The first Gramaphone record in Malayalam Language was a Mappila song. In 1925, Gul Mohammed, father of celebrity artist KG Sathar recorded his voice in Gramaphone. Even though millions of Mappila songs were released thereafter on records, only few of them are considered as authentic Mappila Songs.

Mappila songs are composed in colloquial Malayalam and are sung in a distinctive tune. They are composed in a mixture of Malayalam and Arabic and have a special charm of their own. They deal with diverse themes such as religion, love, satire, heroism, etc.
Turns out, these are wedding rituals among the Muslims of Kerala. These are not performance dances, but more like the sangeet that the Punjus (and crores of other Indians thanks to Bollywood) have around their weddings. The resident Mallu even clarifies that the song Kehna hi Kya from the movie Bombay was a Oppana / Mappila song.

Either ways, T1's comment on the IQ (Islam Quotient - my phrase, not his, sorry if I offend any one) of the parish committee is very true. It is important at such times, that people use their common sense, and not their interpretation of what is or isn't sin.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oye, Oppana is still ladies in front of ladies or men in front of men!! If Oppana is performed by ladies in front of men, you cannot attach "muslim" to it. (my view)

Thanks for the info on Mappila Paatukul. Have to spread that word on my blog next :).

Sandgroper said...

that's copy pasted from Wikipedia. Figured it was not worth the effort to go and change it.