Krishnaattam ( Kṛṣṇaāṭṭaṃ) is a temple art in Kerala, India. It is a dance drama and presents the story of Krishna in a series of eight plays and was created by Manaveda (1585–1658 AD), the then Zamorin Raja of Calicut in northern Kerala. The eight plays are: Avataram, Kaliyamardanam, Rasakrida, Kamsavadham, Swayamvaram, Banayuddham, Vividavadham and Swargarohanam. It survives in its glory at the Guruvayur Sri Krishna temple (Thrissur district, Kerala, India).
The troupe of players, once maintained by Zamorin of Calicut came to Guruvayur Devaswom in 1958.The only troupe of artists are well maintained by devaswom till date.
Krishnanattam is based on Krishnagiti (1654 AD) written by Manaveda, Zamorin of Calicut. It is believed that the Zamorin had a vision of Krishna who gave the king a peacock feather, which became the living symbol of this dance-drama. Krishnanattam players wore a peacock feather and thus commemorated the vision of the chieftain.
