Theyyam: Ritual Art Form of Kerala

In News

• Kerala Tourism will stream live an annual temple festival, Theyyam,  as part of its efforts to promote cultural tourism.

About Theyyam

• It is a popular ritual form of dance worship in Kerala and Karnataka. It consisted of thousand-year-old traditions, rituals and customs.
• The people consider Theyyam itself as a channel to a god and they thus seek blessings from Theyyam.
• Each Theyyam is a man or a woman who attained divine status by performing heroic deeds or by leading a virtuous life.
• Most Theyyams are believed to be the incarnations of Shiva or Shakti (the consort of Shiva). Or they have strong associations with these principal deities of Hinduism.
• The main instruments used for thottampattu are Chenda, Veekan Chenda, Ilathalam and Kuzhal.
• Theyyams are performed in sacred groves and other places usually once in a year and is known as Kaliyattam.

Types of Theyyams

• There are about 456 types of Theyyam (theyyakkolams), among which 112 are famous. Some of the famous Theyyams are:
• Vishnumoorthy Theyyam:
  • It is the most popular Vaishnava Theyyam. This theyyam narrates and performs the story of Hiranyakashipu’s death by Lord Vishnu in his avatar of Narasimham. Because of this, Vishnumoorthi has another name, ‘Narasimha Moorthi’ [half man and half lion avtar of Vishnu].

• Sree Muthappan Theyyam:
  • Muthappan theyyam consists of two divine figures is considered as the personification of two divine figures— the Thiruvappana or Valiya Muttapan (Vishnu) and the Vellatom or Cheriya Muttapan (Shiva).
  • Muthappan Theyyam is different from other theyyams as it is performed all around the year. Muthappan Anthithira is another theyyam dedicated to Muthapan. The uniqueness of it is that it is performed only once in all the Muthapan temples.
• Padikutti Amma:
  • The Padikuttiyamma is believed to be the mother of Muthapan. The Padikutti Amma Theyyam is performed in the Palaprath Temple in Kodallur near ParassiniKadavu in the Meenam (a Malayalam month).

• Gulikan:
  • Gulikan represents Yama, the Hindu god of death, called Yama. The Benkanakavu (Venganakavu) in Nileshwar is the most famous temple dedicated to Gulikan.

Source: TH