‘Therukoothu isn’t an art form meant to be degraded’

CHENNAI: Flashing lights, hundreds of people around, artists with various costumes, while all eyes gazed at him; that is where 25-year-old Licko Praveen stood as a therukoothu artist. Na. Gengapattu, 15 kilometres away from Tiruvannamalai, is the native of Licko Praveen.

Though he’s settled in Chennai and currently working as a software developer, he is not willing to let his art die down at any cost and strives hard to educate the importance of art forms to the future generation.

“I find the purpose of my life every time I transform myself into a therukoothu artist and I take pride in it. Every role of mine is close to my heart and I do justice to the art form,” says Licko.

Having actively participated in therukoothu since his childhood, he talks about why therukoothu is given importance in his village, he says, “Every year during the month of May, therukoothu goes on for three days. The major concept of the therukoothu would be featuring the good deeds of Saint Constantine, and the way he saved the slaves from the greedy kings. People of my village pray for their health, for rain, and the wellness of the place, and conduct the therukoothu wholeheartedly”.

“I’ve seen Army officers from my village taking a day off to visit and take part in therukoothu. This is the respect they carry towards the art form. Therukoothu runs in my family. We have been doing it for several generations. My uncle is the ‘Nadaga Aasiriyar’ and my father often played the role of the king. I’m trying to take forward therukoothu as a tradition to the next generation. People aren’t willing to look at it as an art form, but are viewing it as a business model; which I don’t feel is right,” he adds.

“People degrade therukoothu and abuse the people who take part in it. Many of my colleagues have mocked me for taking part despite my schedule at the office. Loss of pay isn’t an issue whereas an art form being vanished is. Many of our cultural art forms are lost due to peoples’ loss of interest and it not being passed over to the younger generation,” he says with a heavy heart.

On asking how he plans on educating people about the art form, Licko says, “By being an active member of the ‘Youth Organisation’ we spread our word about therukoothu to several youngsters from our village and other places. The ultimate goal of this organisation is to bring out talented artists by conducting meetings and creating social media awareness; increasing the number of youth participation in therukoothu. I shouldn’t be the last youth in my village to be a therukoothu artist and will surely not be.”