His
Background:
Born
in 1920 at Mulakulam village in the outskirts
of the city, Fr. Abel, then known as Mathew,
was born to Mathen Vidyan a traditional doctor
and Aleyamma. He set out for pastoral studies
in his 20s at Mannanam, Thevara and Koonammavu.
He proceeded for higher studies at Mangalore
after which,he was ordained a priest in 1951.
His
Achievements:
He
became well known as the founder of Kalabhavan
now located on 10 -cents plot near Ernakulam
Town Hall, the foundation stone for which
was laid in September 1969. He worked wonders
on the talented youth in and around Kochi.
He immortalised Kalabhavan as a Cultural icon,
contributing many mimicry artistes to filmdom
and theatre.
He
also effortlessly demolished the caste- identification
of art forms like Mohiniyattom, Kathakali
and Bhartanatyam, encouraging artistes from
all communities to learn and master the art
forms. Fr. Abel's panacea for organising children
and youth and his credo -"catch them
young"- helped him establish the concept
of Kalabhavan. Hundreds of children fine-tune
their skills in over 20 literary fields at
Kalabhavan.
The
Beginning:
He
was initially captivated by a thirst for expression
with journalism and joined the Deepika daily
at Kottayam in 1952.
In
1953 Fr. Abel left for Rome, where he took
Doctorate in journalism and political science
from the International University of Rome
and returned to Kerala. During 1957-'61, he
worked as Asst. Managing Director of the Deepika
Daily. It was at this time that he made a
self-discovery and unleashed his creativity
as a poet and lyricist. The job enabled him
to expand his interests in art and literature.
He was then entrusted with the job of a Professor
at St. Joseph's College, Devagiri during the
period from 1961 to 1965. Teaching provided
an impetus to the artist and writer in Fr.
Abel. His interaction with students helped
him spot talented students. This led him to
explore ways to develop their inborn creative
talents.
His
Holiness Cardinal Parecattil, Archbishop of
Ernakulam set upon him the task of translating
prayer books in Syriac into Malayalam. Thus
Fr. Abel reached Ernakulam and found his life's
mission there. Soon he translated over fifteen
ancient texts. Then arose an idea in his mind
- why not write original devotional songs
in Malayalam?
Fr.Abel
wrote numerous songs, which were set to music
by late Mr. K. K. Antony. They became very
popular with the public and with the clergy
alike. Some cassettes of song collections
became instant hits and popular all over Kerala.
The lyrics were simple and the tunes are trendy
while deeply devotional. Perhaps the success
of the cassettes brought about the need for
formal music education.
The
first batch of artistes who formed the core
of Kalabhavan were actually an orchestra troupe
organized to present concerts of Christian
devotional songs. Fr. Abel was in a prolific
mood during this time and wrote around a thousand
devotional songs. Over 60 songs were recorded.
Fr.Abel
founded classes mainly to train vocal and
instrumental music. In the course of his mission
he discovered numerous talents and popularized
the unique art form – mimicry.
The
Spread:
On
August 15, 1974, His Holiness Late Cardinal
Parecattil, the life- patron of Kalabhavan,
laid the- foundation stone for its new building
on 12 crents of land behind Ernakulam Town
hall.
Within
six months of the laying of the foundation,
Kalabhavan had moved its office into the ground
floor of the building, which later was build
to 4 floors. The spacious auditorium on the
third floor was opened in 1978.
Over
the years, Fr.Able build Kalabhavan into a
magnificent institution spanning various disciplines.
The programs by Kalabhavan artists first covered
all Kerala and then all parts of India where
Malayalees reside in good numbers. Shortly
afterwards, they began performing around the
world including USA.
By
this time, former mimicry artists became mega-stars
in the Malayalam Film Industry. It came to
be that Kalabhavan was deemed as the
stepping-stones to stardom.
Fr.Abel
also oversaw the building of the Kalabhavan
Residential Talent School and the Recording
Studios at Kakkanad.
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