L.S. Rajagopalan - the well sought-after authority on traditional theatre and music

L.S. Rajagopalan (1922-2008) enjoyed a well-deserved reputation as an authority on the traditional theatre and music of Kerala. He studied and explored these arts all his life - in temple precincts, the countryside, and the by-lanes of town and city - and sought to unravel their meaning through his writing, lectures, and personal guidance in scholarly fieldwork.

Rajagopalan's special interests lay in Krishnattam, Kutiyattam, Kathakali, and the folk music and musical instruments of Kerala. He had also delved deep into the musical aspects of Vedic chanting and Carnatic music.

Rajagopalan's publications include Women's Role in Kutiyattam (1997), and Kutiyattam: Preliminaries and Performance (2000). He published articles on various topics concerning the arts of Kerala, and contributed the entry on Kutiyattam in the Oxford Encyclopaedia of Theatre and Performance (2003) edited by Dennis Kennedy.

BOOKS (selection)

• Temple Musical Instruments of Kerala, edited by A. Purushothaman and A. Harindranath, Sangeet Natak Akademi New Delhi 2010
• Kudiyattam: Preliminaries and performance, Kuppuswami Sastri Research Institute Chennai 2000
• Women's Role in Kudiyattam, Kuppuswami Sastri Research Institute Chennai 1997

ARTICLES (selection)

• The Pulluvans and their music. The Journal of the Madras Music Academy 51 : 72-80, 1980
• Krishnattathile Pattu (Songs in Krishnattam), Keli, Sangeet Natak Academy, Thrissur, August- September 2004.
• Comic relief by characters other than Vidusakas in Kutiyattam, in: Facets of Indian Culture, New Delhi 2000
• Music in Kootiyattam, Sangeet Natak Akademi Journal New Delhi 10, 1968, 12-25