A solo riddle-telling competition for the youngest category on the Kerala school Kalolsavam syllabus, where each entrant poses traditional Malayalam riddles and is judged on delivery, clarity and command of the form.
Kadam Katha (കടംകത, “kadamkatha”) is the everyday Malayalam word for a riddle – a short, traditionally worded puzzle whose answer the listener has to guess, a folk form told to and by children across Kerala long before it became a stage item. On the Kerala school Kalolsavam syllabus it is a solo On Stage competition in its own right, distinct from the syllabus’s storytelling items (Katha Kathanam, Kadha Parayal) even though all three sit in the same category and are aimed at the same youngest age group: storytelling narrates a story from beginning to end, while Kadam Katha poses a sequence of riddles for the audience or panel to answer.
A round runs entrant by entrant, each presenting a set of riddles – typically drawn from the well-known traditional Malayalam repertoire, though the syllabus does not restrict the entrant to reciting only well-known ones – and pausing after each to let the answer be guessed or revealed. The official item list installs Kadam Katha for Category I only, scored out of 100 marks, but does not publish a time limit or a named judging-criteria breakdown for it the way it does for several of its Category I neighbours, so a coordinator sets a workable time for the round when assigning it in Assign Competitions to Groups rather than inheriting one from the source document.
Preparing an entry means building a short set of riddles that suit the age group – traditional wordplay riddles about everyday objects, animals or nature are the classic choice – and rehearsing clear, confident delivery: posing each riddle at a pace the audience can follow, pausing convincingly before the answer, and timing the reveal so it lands rather than being rushed past.
Kerala schools run it to keep a genuinely oral, participatory folk tradition alive for young children alongside the syllabus’s more formal speech and storytelling items – riddling has always been a spoken, back-and-forth form rather than a scripted monologue, and Kadam Katha is the syllabus’s way of giving that its own dedicated slot rather than folding it into general storytelling.
Where Kadam Katha is run
Kadam Katha is verified only on the Kerala school Kalolsavam syllabus, appearing identically on both 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.
- Kerala, India
Key facts
- Always an Individual competition – no Team version on this syllabus
- Run only for Category I (Classes 1-4), as one mixed Both-gender competition – not offered at Categories II, III or IV
- Scored out of 100 marks, with no published per-criterion weighting on this syllabus
- No time limit is published for this item in the source list, unlike several of its Category I neighbours – a coordinator sets one locally
- Language is left open (Any/NA)
- A riddle-telling item, not a storytelling one – distinct from Katha Kathanam and Kadha Parayal, the syllabus’s separate solo narration items in the same category
On eTalenter, Kadam Katha is filed under On Stage and typically scored with Marks. It appears in 2 ready-made event templates — each one can adjust its time limit, age-group assignment and scoring setup independently.
Across the templates that use it, Kadam Katha is most often entered as an Individual competition, typically scored out of 100.
What judges look at in Kadam Katha
What a Kadam Katha panel is actually weighing up, and where the marks are usually won or lost:
- Command of the riddle form – choosing riddles that are genuinely riddles (a real puzzle with a satisfying answer), not disguised statements or jokes
- Clarity of delivery – posing each riddle so the wording and the question are both understood the first time
- Pacing and timing of the reveal – a deliberate pause before the answer rather than rushing straight through it
- Variety across the set – riddles that differ from each other in subject and style rather than repeating the same pattern
- Confidence and audience engagement – holding the room’s attention through a spoken, participatory format rather than reading flatly from memory
Treat these as the judging focus, not a fixed rubric: publish your own weighted criteria for Kadam Katha under Scoring Setup, or start from how judging, scoring and tabulation work on eTalenter.
How to prepare for Kadam Katha
How entrants and their teachers usually get Kadam Katha right on the day:
- Build a set of riddles from family or community sources rather than relying on just one or two well-known ones
- Practise posing each riddle clearly, at a pace a listener unfamiliar with it can follow
- Rehearse the pause before each answer – a riddle loses its effect if the reveal comes too quickly or too slowly
- Prepare a couple of backup riddles in case the coordinator’s time allowance runs shorter than expected
- Since the syllabus sets no published time limit, confirm the round’s actual time with the coordinator before the event rather than assuming a fixed length
Ready-made event templates that include Kadam Katha
Open any template to preview it in eTalenter and install it as a live, editable event.
| Template | Category | Score label | Competitions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kerala Kalolsavam – All Sections | On Stage | Marks | 1 |
| Kerala School Kalolsavam | On Stage | Marks | 1 |
Frequently asked questions
Is Kadam Katha 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 Kadam Katha the same as Katha Kathanam?
No. Katha Kathanam is solo storytelling – narrating a story from beginning to end. Kadam Katha is riddle-telling – posing a series of riddles for the audience or panel to guess. Both are separate Category I items on the same syllabus.
What does “Kadam Katha” mean?
It is the everyday Malayalam word for a riddle – a short traditional puzzle whose answer the listener has to guess. The competition item is named directly after the form itself.
Is it judged individually or as a team?
It is always an Individual competition – the syllabus has no team version of this item.
Which age group runs Kadam Katha?
On the Kerala school Kalolsavam syllabus it is run only for Category I, Classes 1-4 – it is not offered at the older Category II, III or IV school-class groups.
How long does each entrant get?
The syllabus does not publish a fixed time limit for this item, unlike several of its Category I neighbours, so the coordinator running the event sets a workable time when assigning it.
Want the full judging picture? Read how judging, scoring and tabulation work on eTalenter, or browse every on stage competition item.
Try Kadam Katha in eTalenter
See every ready-made template that runs Kadam Katha, and install one as a live event — age groups, rules and scoring included.
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