Photo: Traditional Kerala dance at Fulbright conference. by Jessie Wallner. This type of dance is called "Kathakali" in the language of Malayalam. It takes the performers hours to dress and apply the face paints. This dance in particular is a representation of a story from the Hindu epic Mahabharatha, the Vanaparna. It involves Arjuna worshipping Lord Shiva at the foot of Mount Kailasa, the sacred river Ganga. Shiva appears to Arjuna as a wild hunter, they quarrel, Parvathi ends the fight and upon awakening Arjuna finds out that the hunter was in fact his Lord Shiva, and worships.