Kathakali – Latest victim of Missionary Inculturation

In Christian missiology  – Inculturation is an inseparable aspect of evangelisation, which is the establishment of God’s reign on earth, the realization of his project for humanity. The Missionaries are given proper training on how to implement inculturation techniques to dupe the target population, by their Foreign Masters.

Inculturation started with Christians adopting Hindu names for their kids, Missionaries Masquarding as Gurus and Conversion centres renamed as Ashrams. Even Christian gods were baptized to Hindu names like Amala and Vimala. Caprisoned elephants , Dwajsthamabas are all now part and parcel of Christianity in India . These Christian imitators have even composed Yesu Suprabhataham and Carnatic songs in praise of Christianity. Bharathanatyam is yet another art form which became the victim of this inculturation technique.

Latest to this addition is Kathakali. First performance of ‘Divya Karunya Charitam’ will be held at held at the Pastoral Orientation Centre on July 21. Kathakali, is one of the oldest theatre forms of the world and is traditionally based on themes derived from Hindu epics Ramayana, Mahabaratha andHindu legends.

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