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Of rituals and tradition

G.S. PAUL

The song of the Pulluvans may come to an abrupt end if steps are not taken to document and preserve this rich folk tradition of Kerala.

Wandering minstrels: Sudheer on the ‘Pulluvan Veena’ and his mother, Ambujakshy, on the ‘Pulluvan kudam.’Wandering minstrels: Sudheer on the ‘Pulluvan Veena’ and his mother, Ambujakshy, on the ‘Pulluvan kudam.’

The monsoon is a trying period for artistes in general and folk artistes in particular. Heavy downpour prevents outdoor performances and most of them struggle to make ends meet during this period. Among them, the Pulluva community is the worst affe cted.

Wandering minstrels, Pulluvans are snake worshippers. Their songs, sung to the accompaniment of the ‘Pulluvan Veena’ and the rhythm of the ‘Pulluvan Kudam,’ were, at one time, believed to ward off evil and usher in prosperity.

The invocation excerpted from the Mahabharata describe the lineage of the mighty serpent gods. One of the songs narrates the genesis of the 1,008 snake-sons of Kadru. The birth of Aruna and Garuda, his fight with his cousins, the death of king Parikshit, Jamamejaya, Parikshit’s son’s sacrifice of serpents, the encounter between Krishna and Kaliya, the penance of Ananta and his becoming the bed of Mahavishnu – all find descriptive narration in the repertoire.

A legend about the genesis of this community makes them the descendents of a girl who had rescued a snake during the burning of the Kandava forest by Agni. The girl who was fetching water in a mud pot saw the burning snake. She doused the flames and left the pot on the ground. The snake crept into the pot and stayed there.

The story goes that the snake blessed the girl and promised to make its presence felt whenever she or her progeny worshipped it by singing its praises accompanied by the strumming of the pot-instrument. Relevance of the ‘kudam’ springs from this incident.

An earthen pot, the type of which is usually used to carry water, serves only as an amplifier of the notes of the string – two twisted leather strings – that are held taut with the help of a short bamboo piece, ‘kudathum kuzhal,’ and a carefully designed stick. The taut string is plucked with the ‘vayanam’, a plectrum.

The Pulluvan Veena is essentially a single-stringed fiddle played with a bow. A surfeit of rituals and traditional practises precede and follow the drawing of the ‘Naga kalam,’ which is a vibrant demonstration of indigenous painting that is unique to Kerala. Red, green, yellow, black and white are the colours employed and they are derived from natural materials. The ‘Mani pandal,’ at the centre above the portion of the ‘kalam’ showing the hood of the snakes is decorated with tender palm leaves and areca nut poles alone are used to raise the ‘pandal.’

Said Sudheer, a young exponent from Mullurkkara, “There are specific rules for all the procedures and these are orally transmitted through generations.” A visually enthralling performance in this connection is ‘Thiiriyuzhichil,’ an invocation to Agni. With a flaming torch in one hand and a plate in the other, the performer stages breathtaking feats during which he also blesses the audience with the torch occasionally.

Pulluvan songs are rich in ragas and the voice culture of the females is unparalleled. Interestingly, Hindustani ragas too are very common. But the art form is on the verge of extinction as only a handful of youngsters are interested in continuing their tradition. “Unless the work of the senior artistes are documented soon, it is likely that a living heritage that has survived many centuries will be lost to posterity,” said Sudheer. He hoped Kerala Folklore Akademi would soon initiate steps in that direction.

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