Historical Background
Kerala, the land of charity, is rich in folk-culture, visual arts and festivals. Different religions, groups and communities in their historical evolution have subscribed to the growth of a dreamlike panorama of dance and visual art forms in this region. Some of them are religious, highly ritualistic, but incorporate dance and music and colours and light. Even the geographical isolation of Kerala had not denied her the chance of inheritance of a common cultural heritage of India. As such the major developments in the cultural history of India had significant impact on the formation of organization of Kerala society. Although it is a compact cultural linguistic area, it was exposed to external influence both from land and the sea. The Aryan culture and the Sanskrit language nourished the indigenous tribal culture and language, defined and categorized by the scholars as Dravidian. The Buddhists, the Jains and the Brahmins had liberally contributed to the religious and social life of the country. Therefore the so-called Hinduism, the religion of the land, was characterized by much synthesis. This particular aspect could be traced in the traditional culture of Kerala.
The Theyyam or Theyyattam is a popular ritual dance of North Kerala, particularly now found in the traditional Kolathunadu, of the present Kannur and Kasargode districts. As a living cult with centuries old traditions, ritual and custom, it embraces almost all castes and classes of Hindu religion in this region. The term Theyyam is a corrupt form of daivam or God. It is a rare combination of dance and music and reflects important features of a tribal culture.
The indigenous Theyyam cult under the influence of the great classical Indian tradition incorporated new ideas and legends. However its form and content did not change very much. The earliest Brahminic settlements like Payyanur and Perimchellur (Thaliparamba) in Kolathunadu where the Brahminic religion was propagated through the institutions of temples largely influenced the popular folk religion based on Theyyam and other tribal cults. According to the legendary Keralolpathi, Parasurama sanctioned the festivals like Kaliyattam, Puravela and Deivattam or Theyyattam to the people of Kerala. He assigned the responsibility of Theyyam dance to the indigenous communities like Panan, Velan and Vannan. These traditions explain how the indigenous cults like Theyyam were incorporated and metamorphosed under the religious supremacy of the Brahmanism. In the long historical process a social system evolved in Kerala in which the little culture like Theyyam belonged to the depressed castes and classes where as the temple oriented culture belonged to the dominant castes and classes. There were no violent confrontations between these two cultures as there was no total destruction of the indigenous culture. “There can be no doubt”, say Bridget and Raymond Alchin, ‘that a very large part of this modern folk religion is extremely ancient and contains traits which originated ruing the earliest periods of Neolithic , Chalcolithic settlement and expression (The Birth of Indian Civilization 1968 p.3039)
Velan, on of the communities of Theyyam dancers, is referred to in the Tamil Sangam literature. According to Sangam tradition he was employed by the mothers of the love-lorn girls to exercise the malignant spirits from their daughters. He propitiated God Murukan to drive away the evils spirits by sacrificing a goat before a Kalam or Square made for this occasion. At the end of the ceremony he conducted a dance known as Velan Veriyatal with a spear in his hand and prophesied the future happiness of the girl. The works like Tirumurukattuppatai, give descriptions of Velan’s Kalam, offering of chekki and oleander flowers with sacrificial blood, locations of performance like Manram, Podiyil, estuary (thuruthu), groves, forest, riverbanks and Kadamba tree. The main characteristics of such performances are traced in the contemporary Theyyam cult. Now all such rituals as described in some of the Sangam works and their commentaries are being observed by Velan and other dancing communities in the cult of Theyyam. Now the Velan community is divided into two groups known as Anjutton and Munnutton in Kolathunadu. According to tradition this division is based on the character of their offerings to the deity. The Munnutton section committed only three offenses (such offerings are offences to Brahmins) namely killing of cock, goat and buffalo, and the Anjutton (five offences) namely killing of cock, goat, buffalo, elephant and human being. Some of the Theyyam ritual songs describe that earlier the priest or the dancer had even sacrifices human beings in favour of the deity.
Ezhimala described in the Sangam literature and ruled by Udayan Venman Nannan is situated in Kolathunadu, near Payyanur. Therefore the Tamil Sangam culture with variations still continues in this region. The dance of Velan had taken new forms and developed into the present day cult of Theyyam over a period of 1500 years. This uninterrupted continuity of the Sangam tradition makes Theyyam a prominent religious system of north Kerala. As a religious and social institution it has significant place in the cultural history of region.
Kerala, the land of charity, is rich in folk-culture, visual arts and festivals. Different religions, groups and communities in their historical evolution have subscribed to the growth of a dreamlike panorama of dance and visual art forms in this region. Some of them are religious, highly ritualistic, but incorporate dance and music and colours and light. Even the geographical isolation of Kerala had not denied her the chance of inheritance of a common cultural heritage of India. As such the major developments in the cultural history of India had significant impact on the formation of organization of Kerala society. Although it is a compact cultural linguistic area, it was exposed to external influence both from land and the sea. The Aryan culture and the Sanskrit language nourished the indigenous tribal culture and language, defined and categorized by the scholars as Dravidian. The Buddhists, the Jains and the Brahmins had liberally contributed to the religious and social life of the country. Therefore the so-called Hinduism, the religion of the land, was characterized by much synthesis. This particular aspect could be traced in the traditional culture of Kerala.
The Theyyam or Theyyattam is a popular ritual dance of North Kerala, particularly now found in the traditional Kolathunadu, of the present Kannur and Kasargode districts. As a living cult with centuries old traditions, ritual and custom, it embraces almost all castes and classes of Hindu religion in this region. The term Theyyam is a corrupt form of daivam or God. It is a rare combination of dance and music and reflects important features of a tribal culture.
The indigenous Theyyam cult under the influence of the great classical Indian tradition incorporated new ideas and legends. However its form and content did not change very much. The earliest Brahminic settlements like Payyanur and Perimchellur (Thaliparamba) in Kolathunadu where the Brahminic religion was propagated through the institutions of temples largely influenced the popular folk religion based on Theyyam and other tribal cults. According to the legendary Keralolpathi, Parasurama sanctioned the festivals like Kaliyattam, Puravela and Deivattam or Theyyattam to the people of Kerala. He assigned the responsibility of Theyyam dance to the indigenous communities like Panan, Velan and Vannan. These traditions explain how the indigenous cults like Theyyam were incorporated and metamorphosed under the religious supremacy of the Brahmanism. In the long historical process a social system evolved in Kerala in which the little culture like Theyyam belonged to the depressed castes and classes where as the temple oriented culture belonged to the dominant castes and classes. There were no violent confrontations between these two cultures as there was no total destruction of the indigenous culture. “There can be no doubt”, say Bridget and Raymond Alchin, ‘that a very large part of this modern folk religion is extremely ancient and contains traits which originated ruing the earliest periods of Neolithic , Chalcolithic settlement and expression (The Birth of Indian Civilization 1968 p.3039)
Velan, on of the communities of Theyyam dancers, is referred to in the Tamil Sangam literature. According to Sangam tradition he was employed by the mothers of the love-lorn girls to exercise the malignant spirits from their daughters. He propitiated God Murukan to drive away the evils spirits by sacrificing a goat before a Kalam or Square made for this occasion. At the end of the ceremony he conducted a dance known as Velan Veriyatal with a spear in his hand and prophesied the future happiness of the girl. The works like Tirumurukattuppatai, give descriptions of Velan’s Kalam, offering of chekki and oleander flowers with sacrificial blood, locations of performance like Manram, Podiyil, estuary (thuruthu), groves, forest, riverbanks and Kadamba tree. The main characteristics of such performances are traced in the contemporary Theyyam cult. Now all such rituals as described in some of the Sangam works and their commentaries are being observed by Velan and other dancing communities in the cult of Theyyam. Now the Velan community is divided into two groups known as Anjutton and Munnutton in Kolathunadu. According to tradition this division is based on the character of their offerings to the deity. The Munnutton section committed only three offenses (such offerings are offences to Brahmins) namely killing of cock, goat and buffalo, and the Anjutton (five offences) namely killing of cock, goat, buffalo, elephant and human being. Some of the Theyyam ritual songs describe that earlier the priest or the dancer had even sacrifices human beings in favour of the deity.
Ezhimala described in the Sangam literature and ruled by Udayan Venman Nannan is situated in Kolathunadu, near Payyanur. Therefore the Tamil Sangam culture with variations still continues in this region. The dance of Velan had taken new forms and developed into the present day cult of Theyyam over a period of 1500 years. This uninterrupted continuity of the Sangam tradition makes Theyyam a prominent religious system of north Kerala. As a religious and social institution it has significant place in the cultural history of region.
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