Chavittu Nadakam is unmistakable the moment it starts — performers in heavy, colourful European-style costume stamping the stage floor so hard in unison that the rhythm itself becomes part of the performance, declaiming verse-dialogue in a loud, sung-chant style rather than speaking normally. It is Kerala’s own stylised stage-drama form (the name literally means “stamping drama”), traditionally built around episodes from European chivalric and biblical legend, and it survives today mainly as a kalolsavam and school/college arts-fest stage item rather than a full-length traditional production. Because it mixes stamping footwork, sung-declamatory dialogue and period costume in one item, panels unfamiliar with the form often default to a generic “drama” rubric and end up scoring the wrong things. This guide gives a sample Chavittu Nadakam judging criteria and marking scheme, a printable judgement sheet, a team-size and deduction table, and how to set the item up in eTalenter so it tabulates cleanly alongside every other stage item on your programme.
What a judge is actually watching for in Chavittu Nadakam
Chavittu Nadakam compresses three distinct skills into one stage entry, and a fair rubric has to credit all three separately rather than averaging them into a single “performance” score. First is the stamping footwork (chavittu) itself — forceful, rhythmic foot-stamps that mark the beat of the verse and must land together across the group, not just loudly but on time. Second is vachikam, the sung-declamatory delivery of the verse-dialogue in the traditional chant style, which needs to stay audible and in the right cadence even while the performer is stamping and moving. Third is vesham — the costume, gait and bearing appropriate to the character being portrayed (king, soldier, messenger and so on), which in the traditional form is as codified as the footwork. A team that stamps hard but garbles the verse, or recites cleanly while shuffling through the footwork, has only half-delivered the item, and the rubric below is built to show that gap on paper rather than hide it in a single overall-impression number.
Chavittu Nadakam judging criteria: a sample marking scheme (100 marks)
Kalolsavam-style manuals do not print a single universal rubric for every stage item, and Chavittu Nadakam is one of the less common entries where organisers typically decide the exact weightage themselves. The split below is a workable starting point used by schools and youth-fest events running the item — publish whichever split you choose with your competition rules before entries close, so every team rehearses against the same scale.
| Criterion | Weightage | What the judge looks for | What pulls marks down |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stamping footwork & rhythm (chavittu) | 25 | Forceful, unison foot-stamps that land exactly on the verse’s beat across the whole group | Stamps out of time with each other; footwork that softens or disappears mid-scene |
| Vocal delivery & diction (vachikam) | 25 | Clear, audible sung-declamatory delivery that stays in the traditional cadence through the movement | Lines lost under the stamping; delivery that drifts into ordinary speech |
| Character portrayal & bearing (vesham) | 20 | Gait, posture and gesture appropriate to the character, held consistently through the scene | Breaking character between lines; costume or prop handling that looks improvised |
| Costume & presentation | 15 | Period costume worn correctly and consistently across the team | Mismatched, incomplete or visibly modern costume elements |
| Group synchronisation & staging | 10 | Entries, exits and group movement that stay coordinated as the scene progresses | Performers colliding, blocking each other, or losing formation on stage |
| Overall impact | 5 | A coherent scene that holds together and lands as drama, start to end | A strong opening that unravels by the closing lines |
| Total | 100 | ||
Footwork and vocal delivery deliberately carry half the total between them, because they are the two elements unique to this item — any stage drama can be judged on costume and staging, but only Chavittu Nadakam asks whether the stamping and the chant actually stay locked together.
If your event’s own manual or rulebook already prints a fixed Chavittu Nadakam rubric, use that instead and treat this split as a fallback for events that leave the weightage to the organising committee — which is common for this item.
Printable Chavittu Nadakam judgement sheet
Print one sheet per judge per team, filled in with the age group, time limit and team name before the session starts, and make sure every judge on the panel is scoring from an identical copy.
| Criterion | Max marks | Marks awarded | Judge’s remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stamping footwork & rhythm | 25 | ||
| Vocal delivery & diction | 25 | ||
| Character portrayal & bearing | 20 | ||
| Costume & presentation | 15 | ||
| Group synchronisation & staging | 10 | ||
| Overall impact | 5 | ||
| Less: time / rule deductions | – | ||
| Total | 100 |
Leave a footer line for Item · Age group · Team name · Unit or house · Chest number · Number of performers · Time taken · Judge’s name · Signature · Date. A unit or house may enter several differently named Chavittu Nadakam teams in the same age group — identify the sheet by team name and chest number, never by the unit alone.
Team size, time limit and deductions
On school and youth-fest programmes that run Chavittu Nadakam as a senior-category stage item, the time limit is commonly capped around 20 minutes, with a warning given a minute before time is up, and a team usually runs anywhere from six to a dozen performers depending on how many speaking and non-speaking characters the scene needs. Decide the exact limits in advance, publish them with the rules, and have deductions applied by the stage timekeeper or item in-charge rather than by the judges — otherwise the same overrun gets docked separately by several panel members.
| Breach | Suggested deduction | Applied by |
|---|---|---|
| Over the time limit, up to 1 minute | 2 marks | Stage timekeeper |
| Over the time limit, beyond 1 minute | 5 marks | Stage timekeeper |
| More or fewer performers than the rules permit | 5 marks | Item in-charge |
| Prompting or reading lines from off-stage/props | 2–5 marks | Item in-charge |
| Incomplete or mismatched costume across the team | 2–5 marks | Item in-charge |
| Obscene, offensive or community-targeting content in the script | Entry disqualified | Organizing committee |
Adjust the rubric by age group and level
Chavittu Nadakam most often appears as a senior-category stage item on school, college and youth-fest programmes rather than at every age band, since the sustained footwork and sung delivery are harder for younger performers to sustain through a full scene. Keep the same six heads at every level so tabulation and house points stay comparable, and shift the weightage instead:
- HS category — if the item is run at this level at all, move 5 marks from character portrayal into footwork and rhythm. A younger group holding the stamping together in time is the realistic ceiling.
- HSS and open/senior categories — the printed scheme works as it stands; expect fuller dialogue, cleaner character distinctions between roles, and sustained footwork through a longer scene.
- College and youth-fest events — raise vocal delivery and overall impact by a few marks each, taken from costume, since dramatic polish should start to outweigh costume spend at this level.
Setting Chavittu Nadakam up in eTalenter
On paper, Chavittu Nadakam is six criteria multiplied across every team, every judge and every age group, with a timekeeper’s deductions arriving on a separate sheet and each entry representing a cast of several performers rather than a single name. In eTalenter you set Chavittu Nadakam up as a judged Arts competition, enter these criteria with their weightage, and assign the item to the age groups and gender categories you run, with participation type set to Team and a cap on team size. Teams for a group item like this are built during registration — a coordinator can create them through bulk participant management, or a guardian can create a team and assign members through the public registration form — so a house, school or unit can field several differently named Chavittu Nadakam teams in the same age group, each registering as its own entry with its own chest number from the draw.
From there, each judge scores the same rubric on their own device; the system totals and averages across the panel, applies your grades and points, rolls points up to houses, schools or units, and flags ties for you to settle by your published rule. You review results, assign ranks and awards, publish online or to the podium display, and print certificates and trophy stickers from the same marks — and where the item runs at more than one level, winning teams promote upward instead of being re-scored from scratch.
Read how the panel and tabulation work in our judge scoring and tabulation guide, take the ready tables from the judges’ score sheet template, and compare the rubric against the other stage-drama and group items in our drama/skit competition judging criteria and Margam Kali competition judging criteria.
Frequently asked questions
What are the judging criteria for Chavittu Nadakam?
A workable set is stamping footwork and rhythm, vocal delivery and diction, character portrayal and bearing, costume and presentation, group synchronisation and staging, and overall impact — commonly weighted 25/25/20/15/10/5 out of 100. Most events do not print a fixed universal rubric for this item, so organising committees typically decide and publish their own weightage; footwork and vocal delivery are usually weighted highest because they are what make the item distinct from an ordinary stage drama.
Is Chavittu Nadakam judged as an individual or group item?
Chavittu Nadakam is a group item. A cast of several performers registers as one team entry, open to all genders, performing a short scene together on stage. Set the participation type to Team with a capped roster when you configure the competition.
Does the official kalolsavam manual print fixed criteria for Chavittu Nadakam?
Not always as a fixed universal split — it is one of the stage items where weightage is commonly left to the organising committee to decide and publish. Check your own event’s manual or rulebook first; if it prints specific marks, use that in place of the sample scheme above.
How is Chavittu Nadakam different from a regular drama/skit item?
A general drama or skit item is judged mainly on script, direction and ensemble acting in whatever style the team chooses. Chavittu Nadakam is a specific traditional form with two extra, non-negotiable elements a generic drama rubric doesn’t cover: the stamping footwork (chavittu) that must stay rhythmically locked across the group, and the sung-declamatory chant style (vachikam) the dialogue is delivered in, rather than ordinary speech.
How is a tie between two Chavittu Nadakam teams broken?
Write the order into your rules in advance. A common sequence is: higher combined marks on footwork and vocal delivery (the two heaviest-weighted criteria), then the majority preference of the panel, then a shared rank. If the item feeds a higher level — a sub-district, district or zonal round — decide in advance how many tied teams a shared rank promotes.
Use this rubric at your next fest
Copy the marking scheme and the judgement sheet above into your rules, or set them up once in eTalenter and let the panel score on their phones while totals, deductions, grades, ranks, house points and certificates come out at the other end. Running your school’s or youth fest’s Chavittu Nadakam competition on eTalenter? Message us on WhatsApp or write to support@etalenter.com for help with the software — or open a live kalolsavam demo and log in as a demo coordinator or judge to see judging and tabulation working on a real event (read-only, nothing you click changes the event). We can’t help with individual entries or submissions to your school or fair’s own official competition — for those, please contact your school or the event’s organisers. Explore eTalenter’s competition management software for the full picture.
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