Facilities
Kuttu Kalai Kudam
The Kuttu Kalai Kudam is our Center for Performing Arts. Based on ideas of Rajagopal and Hanne as to what Kattaikkuttu needed to be accepted as a dignified theater form and what a residential theater school would require, Mumbai-based architect Himansu Burte designed the Center.
The construction of the Kuttu Kalai Kudam was made possible because of the generosity of multiple local and international donors, including the Netherlands Embassy, Hivos and International Flavors and Fragrances, Chennai. The building was inaugurated in 2006 by the then Netherlands Ambassador to India, Eric F. Ch. Niehe.
The Kuttu Kalai Kudam is home to the Sangam's administrative office and, until March 2020, the Kattaikkuttu Gurukulam and its students. Its central, indoor auditorium, class rooms and the open-air stage provide physical spaces for teaching and performances. There are several other, additional spaces and a spacious kitchen that can be used for rehearsals, training and cooking classes.
The Kuttu Kalai Kudam is situated in Punjarasantankal Village, about 8 kilometers from the center of Kanchipuram Town. Its location and lay-out ensure that rural people have access to their own cultural expressions and performance practices, as have visitors, spectators and practitioners interested in the arts.
Surrounded by lush gardens and trees, this experimental arts center offers an inspiring environment where artists of different backgrounds can practice and meet. Connecting the traditional and the contemporary, the Kuttu Kalai Kudam offers opportunities and spaces for artistic experiments, collaborations and performances.
You can rent our rooms and spaces to host an immersive stay or to develop your own work. The Kuttu Kalai Kudam has basic facilities for stage lights, props and a costume-cum-tailoring section where we also repair the theater’s wooden kattai ornaments.
Guest accommodation
Our guest house was designed by Beat Ferrario and Lisa Pareira, a Swiss-Indian architect couple. It has a family/caretaker apartment on the ground floor and 3 double rooms on the first floor with a terrace on both sites. A second guesthouse —- the former boys hostel — offers another spacious double or triple room, in addition to a smaller double room. Both have attached toilets and there is a small kitchen, ideal for people who would like to stay on site for a longer period of time. The main building (Kuttu Kalai Kudam) has 2 guest rooms on the first floor with large terraces. All rooms are simple, yet clean. Our largest room in the former boys hostel has barrier free access, also to the restroom facilities.
The Kuttu Kalai Kudam has Internet connectivity which can be used by guests free of charge. However, our rooms do not have Internet or TV and you will need to access the Internet through your own dongle.
Food
There are no restaurants in the neighborhood. The nearest places to eat are in Kanchipuram Town or Aiyankarkulam. The Sangam’s food, prepared by our local kitchen ladies, has acquired a name of being delicious and we will continue to cook South Indian cuisine for guests on request.
Library
The former boys hostel has a spacious library-cum-study space on the first floor with a collection of children’s books as well as theater books, including edited prints of Kattaikkuttu plays (the so-called chapbooks).