A (comfortably) close look at Theyyam

What makes theyyam special to believers is of course the embodied presence of deities. The possibility to get close to and touch and talk to their ‘gods’ is often profoundly emotional for devotees. Gopalakrishnan writes about this immediacy of contact through personal anecdotes pointing to the inversion of caste hierarchy whereby performers belonging to marginalised communities are briefly worshipped as embodied gods and goddesses who may bless, comfort, curse or castigate devotees.

 

theyyam

However, as reported by theyyakars in their own writings they have also been rebuked and chastised by committees or patrons post performance for different reasons including performers accidentally muddling caste hierarchies during rituals.

 

All theyyams irrespective of their gender, except the Devakoothu, are performed by men from specified marginalised communities (Dalit castes). Gopalakrishnan devotes a couple of chapters and a few annexures to the origin myths of various theyyams including recent additions such as a police theyyam to the pantheon of deities.

 

Muchilott Bhagavathy by far the most spectacular theyyam has a whole chapter devoted to her, as does Devakoothu, a theyyam performed by a woman. Gopalakrishnan narrates the story of an erudite, young Nambudiri girl who is deified as Muchilottu Bhagavathy; Destroyed by patriarchal injunctions and male ego she eventually self-immolated and transformed into Muchilottu Bhagavathy. Payyanur Kunhiraman’s Perumkaliyattam and RC Karippath’s Kolathunaatile Theyyamkathakal too narrate these versions in Malayalam. While there are several local variations of this origin myth, the thottam narrative (songs of origin stories of theyyam deities and are sung ritually during the performance) does not tell the tale of an educated Nambudiri girl. Instead, Muchilottu Bhagavathy is believed to have been created by Siva to protect human beings from infectious diseases. This also appears to be the perspective of some practitioners who perform the Muchilottu Bhagavathy theyyam.

 

Folklorist and professor Raghavan Payyanad explains that often the atrocities of the ‘affluent landlord classes’ (dominant castes) were either elided or completely absent from the thottam songs due to fear of reprisals from those in power. Gopalakrishnan though, is not convinced by this reasoning. In a book on thottam songs, folklorist Vishnu Namboodiri too provides a similar reason regarding the absence of details in the thottam of Thottumkara Bhagavathy, while popular narrations of the myth indict the kolathiri of extreme cruelty on another erudite, grieving mother. Such deifications in theyyam were believed to appease the wrath of spirits of women across caste lines who had been subjected to extreme violence.

 

Devakoothu, on the other hand, is a gentle tale of a young celestial virgin, Valli Devi who gets separated from her friends and loses her way when she comes to the Thekkumbad island on earth to pick flowers. She is found and given shelter by the local chieftain, and later escorted back to the heavens by Narada. Gopalakrishnan points out that Devakoothu appears closer to performance forms such as Nangiar Koothu and Mohiniyattam and is of the opinion that the former acts as an ‘aesthetic link’ between desi and margi performance conventions.

 

A remarkable aspect of theyyam are the Muslim theyyams accompanying certain main deities. While Buddhist and Jain influences may be detected in certain ritual practices and the worship of theyyams such as nagas, yakshas, and yakshis and there seem to be no known Christian influences in theyyam, the presence of more than one Muslim theyyam or Mappla theyyam such as Kalanthan Mukiri, Ali, Bappiriyan indicate ancient historical connections. Gopalakrishnan devotes a chapter to Muslim theyyams that point to cultural and social mores of a past and additions and erasures over time.

 

However, many of the Muslim theyyams are human victims of enraged Hindu deities. In life some may have violated the devotees of the Hindu deities who avenged such violations by killing them. Death at the hands of the deity deified the not necessarily innocent victims. As Stuart Blackburn says, “it is not moral considerations but violence that transforms humans into deities” and “a violent, premature death is a prerequisite for deification in folk Hinduism … (as is) clear from stories performed in cults of the deified dead.” Although the secular impulse to romanticise past Hindu-Muslim unity especially in current times might be strong, origin myths of these theyyams do not always tell a story of unity.

 

Nevertheless, there are theyyam rituals that involve the participation of neighbourhood sufi shrines or muslim communities through the exchange material things such as sugar, coconuts, or fireworks during theyyam festivals. The Pulingome Makham continues to fix it uroos celebration in consultation with Gopalakrishnan’s taravad pointing to a persistent practice of religious integration in society. Despite communal tensions in recent times, in north Kerala it is not unusual to see Muslims making offerings to theyyams and receiving blessings in turn. But equally disputes too exist. For instance, Bappiriyan theyyam is considered to be the Muslim captain of the ship who accompanied Arya Poonkanni to north Kerala’s shores by some and as Hanuman by others.

 

Gopalakrishnan’s closeness to theyyam as an insider can be seen in the ornate, romanticised, often hyperbolic descriptions. For a book that appears to have been written anticipating non-regional readership, it would have benefitted immensely from attentive and tighter editing. Copyediting for house style and standardised spellings of Malayalam words, archaic language, repetitions and awkward syntax would have made for smooth reading. Similarly, more depth in pursuing some of the questions raised by the consecration of new theyyam, or specific, tangible improvements, if any, in the material conditions of theyyam performers over generations, the changes in Kaliyattam venues, etc.

 

would have added heft to the book. The text of each chapter is generously interspersed with spectacular photographs, although a few appear to be low-resolution: for e.g., a series of three photographs that appear to be a screen grab of Sumesh Peruvannan falling off a coconut tree mid ritual could have been avoided. Instead, considering that the book provides QR codes that readers can scan to view videos of theyyam online, it might have been useful to similarly direct readers to an available video on the internet after acquiring the required permission.

 

Overall the book works well as a detailed introduction to theyyam although Gopalakrishnan’s gaze is a little too comfortably close. Self-reflexivity and a deeper appreciation of the other viewpoints would have provided a more comprehensive view.

 

Despite this, Theyyam: Indian Folk Ritual Theatre provides a wealth of detail especially for those who have little or no access to texts in Malayalam. Readers will find classifications and categorisations of theyyams, male and female theyyams, communities, castes of performers, patrons etc. and their roles vis-à-vis theyyam, costume and jewellery descriptions etc. tabulated formats, annexures that connect theyyam rituals to its larger social context, detailed glossary and other minutiae useful.

 

The book also hints at questions that require scrutiny and deeper investigation, which researchers will hopefully pursue adding to the body of theyyam literature already available. Notwithstanding Nambiar’s blind men and elephant analogy vis-à-vis theyyam writing, as most researchers and observers on the field have experienced first-hand, it is nearly impossible to capture or write about even a single theyyam performance completely, since many of its rituals happen simultaneously. Therefore, all writing on theyyam whether by insiders or outsiders will necessarily be partial and hopefully complementary.

 

 

Theyyam

 

Author: K K Gopalakrishnan

 

Publisher: Niyogi Books

 

Year: 2024