Comic Relief in Mudiyettu is introduced basically to break away from the monotonous incessant intensity created by the ongoing events. The character Kooli in Mudiyettu performance is the comic character (Hasya Rasa) companion of Bhadrakali sent by Lord Shiva to assist the Goddess in her battle against the demons. She is one amongst Pancha Bhoothams who performs a lot of humorous antics and with her comic speech and actions and peculiar dressing, amuses the audience, thereby, reducing the tension of the atmosphere for a while to withstand the ferocity of the battle that ensues. This occasion is Kooli Purappudu in the performance, where the Kooli helps the fierce and infuriated Bhadrakali to calm down.

The "muti" of the Goddess is removed first and set on the ground before the Bhadrakali performer`s feet. The actor sits silently for some time. At this point, Koyimpata Nayar enters the stage, wearing a large necklace and a white lower cloth, and engages the drummers in a comic dialogue. He is like a representative of Shiva who has sent him to enquire about the progress of the war. This also provides a break to the actor who is performing the role of the Goddess. Koyimpata Nayar`s dialogue provides a greeting relief from the ritual gravity of the action. This heralds the broad satire of Kooli"s scene to follow. Thereafter the dialogue starts with puns on drum syllables, and musical satire that plays on the sounds of the Malayalam words. Koyimpata Nayar is the narrating or story-telling character who talks about the misdeeds of the feudal lords and other social problems in the society, in folk dialect. The drummer takes on the role of an interrogator and asks the warrior character many questions which he replies in a funny way.

The significance of the comic dialogue lies in the fact that it portrays the woman of a Namboodiri Brahmin house. She is apparently the purest, chastest woman having the highest status. This is a severe insult that is allowable only in this comic ritual setting. The theme of contrasting the Goddess with a low-status female who breaks all the rules of ritual and social modesty is taken up in the next scene with the entrance of the Kooli. A complex series of self-referencing frames is set up by three sequential scenes. Bhadrakali is calm by now.

The entrance of Kooli is the comic highlight of Mudiyettu. This character goes to the opposite extreme of the serious performance of Bhadrakali, behaving as an alter ego to the Goddess and imitating her actions in a bizarre manner. She acts as a mediator with the audience, whose comic actions are often extempore, and make-up and costume gives a tribal feel. The improvisations and costumes vary. Kooli is a forest-dweller. As she enters the stage arena she goes through several actions that are directly parallel to that of Bhadrakali in her earlier entrance. Kooli stands before the Goddess` shrine and bends as if possessed by the Goddess. She enters the stage with her huge belly and drooping pointed red breasts indicating that she is pregnant. She reveals to the Goddess that her pregnancy is the result of her dual rape by the demon Daarika and his brother Daanavendra. This infuriates Bhadrakali to the extent that it instigates her to resume the war.

The comic relief character Kooli has ridiculous face make-up and exaggerated stomach and breasts. Her first appearance also has its own peculiarities. Her performance has a number of chances of improvisation, where her dialogue involves various humorous gestures, including combing the hair and adjusting the dress. The crowd also encourages her, joining in the dialogue. Heralded by a drummer and a torch-bearer, she dances with wild howls. She climbs up onto the platform around a tree and chases off the spectators sitting there, scolding them as her children. The audience in turn howls back at her. She takes blessings from the instruments, touches the feet of the troupe leader and begins her comic dialogue. The highlight of her comic antics is her running into the audience, chasing grown-up men in the audience and picking up one man, carrying him to the centre stage. She lays the victim forcibly on her lap and thrusts her pointed breast into his mouth, fondling him as a mother does to her child. This is repeated several times throughout the scene, making the audiences laugh noisily. Her comic routine centres around self-cleaning and the performance of daily female domestic chores which are solely done by her. She bathes and washes her hair in a ridiculous manner, brushes her teeth eating the toothpaste and cracks jokes. She does laundry adding black to the clothes, then sets them on the ground to dry and walks over them making them dirty again. She sweeps the courtyard, thereby, putting more dirt in the path.

Through her actions, Kooli shows her lack of knowledge about proper cleanliness and purity. Her illegitimate pregnancy is also a reflection of lack of bodily control. Ultimately, she performs some folk dances, makes obscene puns and pretends to go fishing. The climax of her scene brings her into play with Bhadrakali, as she provokes the Goddess into searching for the demon brothers and pretends to sharpen her sword by cutting her nipples. She mimes as the scene comes to an end.

The overall actions and body language of Kooli are filled with playfulness, having an effect of "unoffical culture". Some of her actions in this scene recall the comic dialogue of Koyimpata Nayar in the earlier scenes. Kooli taunts Kali, mimics her while giving expression to the Goddess` dark side. Kooli is considered as a caricature of Kali.

Related Articles:
Mudiyettu, Kerala Ritual Theatre
Forms of Indian Theatre
Kerala
Folk Theatre of Kerala
Classical Indian Dance Drama
Ritual Theatre in India
Goddess Bhadrakali
Performance of Mudiyettu
Costumes and Make up in Mudiyettu
Hasya Rasa, Natyashastra