What Fr. Abel started in 1968 as Christian Arts Club in a small room in Kochi’s Broadway, with one harmonium, two fiddles, and three kids is today not only a towering presence in Kerala’s art landscape, but a significant presence in countries like Qatar, Dubai, & Oman, and now coming to more countries like Singapore. In 1969, the very next year, Kalabhavan came into existence as the formal, organized avataar of Christian Arts Club. Against struggles of various kinds, Kalabhavan grew, and grew so fast that it required a new four-storey building by the fifth year. Now Kalabhavan has two four-storeyed buildings and one three-storeyed building. Kalabhavan enjoyed the patronage of Syro-Malabar Church’s head Cardinal Parecattil and Malayalam’s most celebrated singer KJ Yesudas in those critical years. Soon Kalabhavan also branched out from its core expertise in music, to dancing, acting, and painting classes. Later came the patronage for drama. Kalabhavan’s musical capabilities grew from strength to strength, and it is also credited with Kochi’s first large-scale musical event, with 50 artists and 60 instruments, and led by none other than Yesudas. Moving with the times, Kalabhavan also developed special skills in teaching mimicry, pop music, & cinematic dance...readmore
