Katha (storytelling format)

Katha is an Indian style of religious storytelling, performances of which are a ritual event in Hinduism, and often involve professional storytellers called kathavahchak or vyas, who recite the Hindu religious texts, such as the Puranas, Ramayana or Bhagavata Purana, often followed by a commentary, Pravachan. Sometimes such events take place in households when it involves smaller stories related to the Vrat Katha genre, for example, the Shri Satyanarayan Katha, Ramayan Katha are didactic in nature and used to instill moralistic values through the revelation of the consequences of human action (Karma).

In India, each region has developed its own style and tradition of storytelling in local languages. Epics and puranas, ancient stories of wisdom in Sanskrit, are the common story material for all or most of the regions of India. Such performances are held in temples, weddings and other religious or social functions. These are one-person performances, where the performer has to be versatile in the aspects of exposition and be able to interestingly narrate humorous anecdotes. The storyteller is looked upon as a teacher who is a scholar in ancient texts in Sanskrit and other vernaculars. They interpret the religious and mythological texts of the past to the present and future generations.

South India has a long tradition of story telling and religious discourse. Religious scholars such as Oduvars who were knowledgeable in religious scriptures used to render discourses in temples and monasteries. In Tamil Nadu, this was known as Kathaprasangam. Arunachala Kavi (17th-century), Gopalakrishna Bharathi, Maha Vaidyanatha Iyer, Ramalinga Swami (all 19th-century), Nellai Sundaramurty Oduvar, Kripananda Variar, and Pulavar Keeran (all 20th-century) were Kathaprasangam experts. Even today there are scholars like Suki Sivam and Trichy Kalyanaraman who perform in this style. One important factor is that the element of Prasangam is the extent of Sloka interpretation and music in these expositions depends solely on the musical ability of the individual. The ones who were adept in music used that skill, whereas the experts in literature used their knowledge in that area more. Some had a good command over both, which reflected in their performances and popularity. Pravachan, Patakam, Upanyasam, Harikatha, Kalakshepa, Harikeerthan, Villupattu are all similar in the sense they are interpretations and storytelling on religious theme, yet they have different styles.

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