Jenn's Ethnography

The Mohiniyattam Costume

Kerala is a place filled with interesting and talented people. I got to know one person in particular during my stay in Kerala her name is Anu. She is a Mohiniyattam dancer and acts in music videos. Having graduated from Kerala Kalamandalam only 2 months ago she has already acted in several music videos for religious albums, teaches Bharatanatyam dance to kids in her home village and has just taught her first Mohiniyattam class. She plans to go back to school in a few months to earn her PhD in Mohiniyattam theory. It was a pleasure to be able to get to know a woman that was able to achieve success in a male dominated society.

While speaking to Anu I learned a lot about Indian culture and Mohiniyattam dance. One of the things that stood out to me was how complex, precise and important the costume was in Indian dances. Each dance has a particular costume, and each costume has a specific meaning. The costumes are made up of the dress and ornamentation throughout the body. Each part of the costume has a specific meaning that adds to the development of the character or the feel of the dance. The Mohiniyattam costume is very classy but very ornamented. Mohiniyattam is literally translated into the “dance of the enchantress” which is the reason why the costume looks elegant but has countless details that makes it complex.

The first thing you notices when you see a Mohiniyattam dancer is the clothes. The dress is ivory with a gold border and is composed of four parts, a shirt, an underskirt, a sari and a pleaded skirt that adorns the front of the costume. The make up is very precise. Since the movement of the eyes is one of the key features of this style of dance the eyes stand out the most. There is thick black liner on the top and bottom of the eyes with thick black lines for the eyebrows. The face is coated with a pale color and the lips are bright red, which refers to the sensual nature of the dance. The hair is pulled up into a bun on the right side of the head and decorated with jasmine flowers. The jasmine flowers are known for their seductive fragrance and therefore are a key part of the costume. On the head there is also two headdresses, one that represents the sun and the other represents the moon. This references the unity and fluidity of the dance. In order to draw attention to other parts of the body, which adds to the seductive nature of the dance, there is heavy ornamentation on the ears, nose, neck, arms, fingers and ankles. The fingers are another very important body part in this dance and are therefore coated in pink. This is because Mohiniyattam, like most Indian dances, uses the hands to express many things like feelings and describe things.