Theatre Design & Technology - Winter 2013 - 67

*Waist/hips
Pattu val (silk fabric), or choppu val (red fabric) are side panels
hung from waist to hem on the sides of the skirt. They often match the
colors of the skirt stripes, enhancing the color theme of the costume,
but are more ornate than the other fabrics. These red ones are woven
with gold vertical stripes, banded with brocaded ribbons, edged with
yellow, and hemmed with multicolored yarn fringe. Nine inches by
thirty-nine inches, they are tied in with the skirt wrappings to meet the
hem of the skirt, and any remaining fabric is folded into the waist and
secured with the cotton wrappings.
Katibandha is a two-part waist
ornament for male and female characters which includes the ottanakku and
the patiarannanam. The ottanakku
is a stiffened red wool apron panel with
silver crescents, beads, woolen fringe,
and pompom (kalanchi) decorations.
It is tied to the waist directly over the
skirt at the center front. Visually it carries the complex color and texture
down through the figure. It measures
eighteen inches long, about six inches
wide, and is backed with cotton and
bordered with black bias, neither of
which is visible from the front but
which provide structural support.
Patiarannanam, or patiarayan,
refers to the carved beaded belt. There
are seven graded sections in the main
belt. Each is carved, covered in wool,
and decorated on the raised surfaces
with metallic foil and plastic gems. The end sections have three holes
in the lower rim through which strings of hand-carved and gilded
beads are suspended. The woman's belt which Puligari brought has

only two strings of beads. While the third string is missing, there are
holes to support one, so it presumably existed at one point and is
likely to be replaced when this set is next refurbished. Red cotton
cords hold the pieces together and fasten the belt to the performer's
waist over the ottanakku and side panels.
*Arms and hands
Men's and women's arm treatments are similar in construction,
function, and aesthetic. Of the two examples we had, the female
character's accessories were slightly smaller in scale than the men's,
and/or had fewer beads.
Tolputtu, epaulette-like upper arm ornaments, are carved
of wood and tied onto the actor's arm below the bicep and around
the chest as well. It is tied on while the arm is raised to secure the
sleeve to the body. Carved in six pieces, the upper part has a shield
or rosette-shaped decoration on a base shaped like a section of a
dome. The rectangular area below is made of five shaped rectangles,
similarly adorned with red wool or flocking, gold foil, stamped brass
rosettes, silver toned beads, and gemstones. The one pictured below
measures three and a half inches wide, five inches tall, and one and
a quarter inch deep.
Paruttikkaimani are tied immediately below the tolputtu at
the bicep. They consist of three strands of wooden beads covered
with metallic foil. A center row of seven carved baubles (each one
inch in diameter by one and a half inches long) is flanked by two
relatively plain globe strands. The center row of baubles is ogee
shaped on the protruding side and slightly flattened on the bottom/
arm edge. Red cotton cord ties secure it to the arm and are tucked
into the tolputtu.
Kalases are worn on both wrists. Each wooden bangle is
carved as a single three-inch section of a cone but reads as a row
of four circlets. The piece is covered in metallic foil, with a row
of small silver beads defining the edges of the carved circlets. The
jacket sleeve is folded to pleat on the outside of the forearm, and
the bangle slides over the jacket sleeve to secure it.

Above, the ottanakku, a stiffened
red wool apron panel with silver
crescents.
Right, ear and arm ornaments,
including (from neck to fingers)
chevippuvu, thoda, tolputtu,
paruttikkaimani, kalases,
kastakatakam, and vellinakam.

w i n t e r 2013

theatre design

& technology

65
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Winter 2013
