A living ritual folk dance tradition
K. Kunhikrishnan
RITUAL AS IDEOLOGY — Text and Context in Teyyam: T. V. Chandran; Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, New Delhi & D.K. Printworld (P) Ltd, ‘Srin Kunj’, F-52, Balinagar, Ramesh Nagar Metro Station, New Delhi-110015. Rs. 650.
The highly colourful ritual folk dance of Teyyam is performed in the northern-most districts of Kannur and Kasaragod in Kerala from the months of December to May. Teyyam is a corrupt form of “Daivam” (God), and the festival conducted in many houses and places of worship like Kavu, Ara, Palliyara, Sthanam, Mundya and Kottam and lasting from one to five days, is referred to as “Kaliyattam”. In the olden days, the performances were illuminated with the flames of country torches of coconut leaves and clothes dipped in oil. With electric lighting much of the awe is lost. The festival is a living tradition in which almost everyone in the village participates making it a real social thread connecting different castes and communities. The Teyyam performer impersonates and transforms into a god or goddess and invokes blessings on the devotees.
Symbolic strategy
As the author has rightly observed the practice of Teyyam still remains untouched and is performed year after year with “unprecedented pomp and splendour.” Because of the universality of appeal, it is firmly rooted in the religious faith and traditions and has assimilated various other cults. As pointed out, to “a certain extent caste boundary and strict caste–rules are suspended in Kaliyattam.”
The author narrates the contribution of Teyyam to the political ideology of religious nationalism. He explains that the rites of fertility and of Mother Goddess are closely associated with it. The procession of kalasam (vessel), preceding the performance of Mother Goddess, is said to denote the womb of Mother Earth, the goddess of prosperity and the womb carrying and nourishing the child, and a pure Dravidian legacy. Through two different Chamundi teyyams, the dichotomy of Mother Goddess being benevolent and malevolent is explicated as the symbolism of the human psyche representing fear of destruction and vulnerability.
Ideology
The chapter on ritual as ideology details explanation on the ritual of Teyyam’s association with the hero-cult. The myths and legends are enunciated through the Thottam songs (preceding the actual performance of the deity), in respect of Urppalachi and Kathivanur Viran, who were local heroes who became divine Teyyams.
Explanation is available as to how Teyyam performed in a social space has been effectively used as a symbolic strategy for transmitting ideas and values. The myth regarding other Teyyams like Vishnumurthy is also elaborated in the same milieu.
The similarities and differences in the face painting between Kathakali and Teyyam are narrated. The line drawings amply illustrate the points. The purpose of painting the face in Teyyam is not merely to make it stylistically on a par with the embellishment of the total form, but to fulfil the transformation of the impersonator from the real to a mythical character.
The intricacy of design and refined demarcation has no parallel in face make up and the colours are from natural materials. The book offers partial information on the tradition of Teyyam.
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