One of the most eminent exponents of the ancient Kerala art form ‘Chakyar Koothu’ K K Rajan was one of the most unforgettable, irreplaceable and illustrious souls in recent times.
Good Friday, which fell on April 6 this year saw the passing away of this great  figure while the whole world was at prayer for peace. And Rajan too was embalmed in a coffin.
As a lad from Trichur, struggling to meet the needs of his family, he shifted base at the age of 17 to Mumbai.
Rajan kept  gathering his moorings and motivating himself to successfully complete his cost accountancy. Thus he could earn a reputation to reckon with as a management consultant with leading business houses.
On the artistic front, he could make myriad strides towards fame, name and glory with blessings from his spiritual gurus.

Early start
As a kid of seven, he travelled to Sri Lanka and performed the ‘Kaliya Mardanam’ dance as part of a cultural group.
He won laurels from the Divan of Kochi as a little boy. Born with an innate and instant sense of humour and a deeply devoted mind, he obviously wished to take up ‘Chakyar Koothu’ later in order to fully explore the dimensions of bhakti through the medium of humour.
Although initially he had been inclined more towards Malayalam drama, he extended this and took a foray into mono-acting theatre and this was the start of a grand artistic career spaning over five decades.
Rajan could not go onstage initially since a non-chakyar performing ‘koothu’ was unprecedented. However, he seized the moment when a troupe, invited to perform in Mumbai, didn’t turn up.
He went on stage from the audience without make-up, and not only saved the day but also won the hearts of the audience that gave thunderous applause and accolade.
Thus was the beginning of his artistic era.
While traditionally, Chakyars interpret the Sanskrit texts in Malayalam, he used Sanskritised Malayalam and to involve people from all over without language or religious barriers, he even narrated in English, Tamil and Hindi, depending on the audience.
Rajan became the first Kerala Iyer to unwind shackles and used the traditional garb through a dynamically contemporary presentation to bring home a socially relevant art form.
As a humble sadhaka and upasaka, he considered every moment of life as precious to assemble knowledge and transmit positive energy and do good. In his own words, “I feel that any art form can only be an integrating force and have to be careful about the mixture in the audiences. I talk about education, lack of faith, consumerism. Besides worldly honour and titles from great acharyas, I had an unusual experience after one perfomance in Delhi during a chilling winter. That day, a middle-aged man wanted to express something but he was hesitant to do so. After a lot of persuasion, he told me that it was after many years that he had laughed for once.
“In Kerala, we are considered Tamilians. In Tamil Nadu we are Keralite brahmins, in Mumbai we are Madrasis. And to add to all this confusion I became a Chakyar. So who am I at the end of it all? A clown.”
And all the world loves a clown!