found: LCSH(Kur̲avañci plays)
found: Literary heritage of the Tamils, 1981:p. 467 (The folk varieties of drama viz. Paḷḷu, Kur̲avañci and Noṇṭi plays were composed in verses. These poetic plays had their own metre quite different from the lyrics and kāvyas of the earlier Tamil works.) pp. 470-471 (Early types of drama in verse. Kur̲avañci: A play of the village masses. This type of drama is intended for the people of hilly tracts. The first and foremost of Kur̲avañci was written in the 18th century; Kur̲avañci plays; were enacted in the mandapams inside the temples since most of them were in praise of some God.)
found: Zvelebil, K.V. Tamil literature, 1974:pp. 224-227 (Kur̲avañci (alias kur̲am or kur̲attippāṭṭu). This form was very productive between ca. 1650/1670-1830, developed from the erotic but sublimated 'ballets' that sprang up in Tamil̲nāḍu in the late middle ages when local feudal lords, landholders, and temple managers began to utilize courtesan-dancers of temples and towns as instruments of entertainment. Several danceuses participated to enact the story woven around a stereotype plot: a young girl, or a courtesan, playing with her companion, would chance to see the local lord, or the god-image carried in procession, and fall in love with him. Lovesick, she would invite a soothsaying Kur̲ava woman to foretell her the future. The handmaid would then carry a love-message, and the god or chieftain would appear in disguise before the girl to woo her. She would not yield, being steadfast in her love; satisfied with her fidelity, the god or the lord would reveal himself and marry her. These 'ballets' were enacted by an all-female cast, consisting of courtesans who rendered the play in pantomime in appropriate costumes. The vocalist of the orchestra sang the songs composed in various metres as substitute for dialogues. This art-form has not survived the first half of the 19th century, but it was revived in the middle of the 20th century by modern dancers and art savants. The songs used as dialogue-substitute developed in the hands of skillful poets into an important and very productive genre, of which the first so far discovered seem to be Veṅkaḷappa Nāyakkar kur̲avañci by Cir̲r̲ampalakkavirāyar (1647/8), and the anonymous Tañcaiveḷḷaippiḷḷaiyār kur̲avañci, which belongs almost certainly to the 2nd half of the 17th century; central theme is that of human and divine love, and the traditional street play is clad in fine poetry and sensuous imagery; dramatic poem; musical dance-drama; kur̲avañci plays; the characters of all kur̲avañcis and paḷḷus are only types and not individual persons)
found: Zvelebil, K.V. Tamil literature, 1975:pp. 254-255 (Kur̲avañci; known also as kur̲attippāṭṭu or kur̲am; literary genre which had the following set pattern: The heroine sees the hero walking or being carried in procession and falls in love with him; she suffers greatly from her desire; she invites the kur̲atti to foretell her future; then the kuḷavan̲ or kur̲avan̲ will appear, and enjoys the embrace of the kur̲atti. We have thus, in this literary genre, two kinds and two levels of love: the ideal hero and heroine, who are engaged in the pursuit of future love, so far unfulfilled; and the folk-characters, enjoying their love in the present. Sometimes there are important variations.) p. 257 (kur̲avañci plays; kur̲avañci poems)
found: Purnalingam Pillai, M.S. Tamil literature, 1985:pp. 364-365 (The purely Tamil dramatic varieties that have survived the havoc of time are vanchi and pallu; kura vanchi; kuravanchi; kuravanji; belongs to the general class of street dramas, a style of performance which still goes on, though unhappily fast dying out.)
found: Ebeling, S. Colonizing the realm of words, c2010:p. 140 (among the genres which "incorporate" the subject of the royal procession are the kur̲avañci, the vilācam, and the kātal; in the kur̲avañci and the vilācam genres, the royal procession provides the point of departure for the entire plot. The heroine falls in love with the king, as she sees him one day riding in procession. She would probably not have been able to see him otherwise, as access to the court was usually limited. But unlike the ulā, which provides a classified inventory of possible emotional reactions to the fateful encounter, the kur̲avañci and the vilācam focus on an individual poetic persona and her specific emotions.)
