Malayalam for story writing – the Kerala school Kalolsavam’s own off-stage written short-story item, judged on language, creativity and treatment of the subject.
Katharachana is Malayalam for “story writing” – the Kerala school Kalolsavam syllabus’s own name for its off-stage written short-story item. It sits in the Off Stage category on the syllabus, alongside the syllabus’s other written items such as Padyam Chollal’s sibling Kavitharachana and Upanyasam, and it is a solo, individual competition: each entrant composes a short story from scratch in a single supervised sitting, and the finished piece is marked afterwards rather than read aloud or performed.
A sitting runs for 120 minutes with the warning bell at the 119-minute mark – one minute before pens are put down – scored out of 100 against five official criteria of 20 marks each. The item is not offered to the youngest school-class category at all; it starts at Category II (Upper Primary, classes 5-7) in Malayalam only, widens to two language streams – Malayalam and Hindi – at Category III (High School, classes 8-10), and widens again to six separate streams – Malayalam, English, Hindi, Arabic, Samskritham and Urdu – at Category IV (Higher Secondary, classes 11-12), each judged as its own competition within the same item.
The syllabus’s own Samskrithotsavam (Sanskrit-medium) stream also runs Katharachana, at its Upper Primary and High School bands, with the same 120-minute sitting but a genuinely different four-criterion marking scheme (Idea, Language, Writing skill and Presentation, 25 marks each) rather than the mainstream syllabus’s five-criterion set – a real difference between the two streams, not a copy-paste of the same rubric. Kerala church youth-wing and student-movement kalamelas also run the item under the same name, but over much shorter sittings than the state syllabus – one runs it in 30 minutes for a single open-language youth group, another over 20 minutes across Higher Secondary and College levels in English and Malayalam – confirming it scales down comfortably for a single-day club or church event rather than needing the full school-syllabus time.
Kerala school Kalolsavam runs it to give strong Malayalam (and, at the older categories, Hindi, Arabic, Samskritham or Urdu) writers their own dedicated fiction-writing slot, distinct from eTalenter’s own English-medium Story Writing item – a school or festival can install both side by side without the two competing for the same entrants.
Where Katharachana is run
Katharachana is verified on the Kerala school Kalolsavam syllabus (identically on eTalenter’s section-by-section kalolsavam-arts-festival template and the combined kalolsavam-all-sections template – the same official item list, not two independent sources) and on its own Samskrithotsavam Sanskrit-medium stream, which runs the item at Upper Primary and High School with a different marking scheme. It also appears on Kerala church youth-wing and student-movement kalamelas, which run it over much shorter sittings than the state syllabus.
- Kerala, India
Key facts
- Always an Individual competition – no Team version on this syllabus
- Off Stage / written: the finished story is marked afterwards, not read aloud or performed
- Mixed-gender (Both) at every category that offers it
- Not offered at Category I (LP) – starts at Category II (UP) and runs through Category IV (HSS)
- Main syllabus sitting: 120 minutes with the warning bell at 119 minutes, scored out of 100
- Language choice widens by category: Malayalam only at Category II, Malayalam and Hindi at Category III, six streams (adding English, Arabic, Samskritham and Urdu) at Category IV
- A distinct catalogue item from eTalenter’s own generic, English-medium Story Writing item
On eTalenter, Katharachana is filed under Off Stage and typically scored with Marks. It appears in 6 ready-made event templates — each one can adjust its time limit, age-group assignment and scoring setup independently.
Across the templates that use it, Katharachana is most often entered as an Individual competition, typically scored out of 100, commonly time-limited to 20–120 minutes where a limit is set.
What judges look at in Katharachana
What a Katharachana panel is actually weighing up, and where the marks are usually won or lost:
- Language (Bhasha) – 20 marks: command of vocabulary and grammar in the chosen language stream
- Creativity – 20 marks: an original plot and ideas, not a retold or generic storyline
- Mode of expression – 20 marks: how the story is narrated – voice, flow and structure of the telling
- Aesthetic quality – 20 marks: the literary polish of the finished piece – style, word choice and overall craft
- Treatment of the subject – 20 marks: how fully and coherently the chosen theme or prompt is developed
Treat these as the judging focus, not a fixed rubric: publish your own weighted criteria for Katharachana under Scoring Setup, or start from the full essay & story writing judging criteria guide.
How to prepare for Katharachana
How entrants and their teachers usually get Katharachana right on the day:
- Practise composing a complete story – beginning, middle and end – inside a strict 120-minute sitting, since the panel marks the finished piece, not a draft
- Sketch a brief plot outline before writing, since Creativity and Treatment of the subject are each scored as their own 20-mark criterion
- Give language and narration equal attention to plot: Language and Mode of expression together account for 40 of the 100 marks
- Practise in the specific language stream being entered – the criteria are identical across streams, but each language is marked as its own separate competition
- Leave a few minutes before the 119-minute warning bell to reread and correct the piece rather than writing until time is called
- If entering the Samskrithotsavam (Sanskrit-medium) stream, prepare for its different four-criterion breakdown – Idea, Language, Writing skill and Presentation – rather than this syllabus’s five-criterion set
Ready-made event templates that include Katharachana
Open any template to preview it in eTalenter and install it as a live, editable event.
| Template | Category | Score label | Competitions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arabic Sahityotsavam (Kerala Schools) | Off Stage | Marks | 1 |
| Kerala Kalolsavam – All Sections | Off Stage | Marks | 15 |
| Kerala School Kalolsavam | Off Stage | Marks | 12 |
| Malankara Yuvajana Kalamela | Off Stage | Marks | 1 |
| MGOCSM Kendra Kalamela | Off Stage | Marks | 4 |
| Samskrithotsavam (Kerala Schools) | Off Stage | Marks | 2 |
Frequently asked questions
Is Katharachana judged individually or as a team?
Across eTalenter’s templates it’s most often run as an Individual entry, though an organiser can set either participation type when assigning the item to an age group.
Is Katharachana the same as Story Writing?
No, not as separate platform catalogue items. Story Writing is eTalenter’s own generic English-medium item used across several other templates, judged on its own criteria. Katharachana is the Kerala school Kalolsavam syllabus’s own item – the Malayalam word for “story writing” – offered in Malayalam, Hindi, English, Arabic, Samskritham or Urdu depending on category, and judged on a different five-criterion set specific to this syllabus, though both cover the same kind of task: composing a short story from scratch in a single sitting.
Which languages can I write Katharachana in?
It depends on the category. Category II offers Malayalam only; Category III adds Hindi; Category IV widens to six streams – Malayalam, English, Hindi, Arabic, Samskritham and Urdu. The Samskrithotsavam stream runs a separate Sanskrit-medium version at Upper Primary and High School.
How long is the sitting?
On the main syllabus, 120 minutes with the warning bell at the 119-minute mark. Real-world Kerala church youth-wing and student-movement kalamelas that also run this item use much shorter sittings – 20 to 30 minutes – so the time allowed varies with the event, not just the item.
Is Katharachana offered to every age group?
No. It is not offered at Category I (LP, classes 1-4) on this syllabus. It starts at Category II (UP, classes 5-7) and runs through Category III (HS) and Category IV (HSS), with more language streams opening up at each older category.
Want the full judging picture? Read the full essay & story writing judging criteria guide, or browse every off stage competition item.
Try Katharachana in eTalenter
See every ready-made template that runs Katharachana, and install one as a live event — age groups, rules and scoring included.
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