Therukoothu

• Therukoothu, the most popular form of folk drama of Tamil Nadu, literally means a “Street play”.
• It is Performed mostly at the time of annual temple festivals of Mariamman (Rain Goddess) to achieve rich harvest.
• At the core of the extensive repertoire of Therukoothu there is a cycle of eight plays based on the life of Draupadi.
• The costumes and makeup is vivid and bright with enchanting colours.
• The perfomance is held in an open air theatre called ‘shabai’. It is approximately 14 feet wide and 16 feet long. 
• The themes are usually drawn from Mahabharata. Some popular items on the therukoothu repertoire include Draupathy Vastraparanam (disrobing of Draupathy) Karna Moksham (defeat of Karna), Prahalada Charithram (story of Prahalda), Bagiratha Prayathanam (Bagiratha’s efforts to bring Ganges earth) Kandavavana Thaganam etc.