Ritual

In //Indian Theater: Traditions of Performance//, Philip Zarilli discusses rituals within three categories: 1. Rituals as Performance 2. Rituals within a Performance genre 3. Ritual Performance

He provides an overview of Vedic rituals and puja which involve acts of doing, performing if you will. This notion connects directly to all acts of offerings to divinities by worshipers. In this respect, performance of a kutiyattam within the temple theatre serves as a "visual sacrifice" in honor of the chief deity of the temple and may be considered as an example of rituals as performance and not merely as an elite classical art.

With regard to rituals within a performance, virtually all genres of performance in India start with some kind of ritual act and often conclude with a ritual act no matter whether they concern secular events or contemporary events. Sanctifying the stage, honoring Ganapati, the god of good luck, through dance or song in Yakshagana and Kathakali, both dance-drama genres and Tamasha, a folk popular art, serve to illustrate the respect of artist for powers beyond this world. Even in ancient Sanskrit drama described in the //Natyasastra//, ritual acts are prescribed for building theatre structures, as well as before and after performances.

There are performance genres in India that may be termed ritual performance. In these the artists often experience possession by the deity and thus the actor serves the same role as that of a priest. In some genres, like Theyyam the artists are low caste Hindus, subverting the normal hierarchy. In other genres the artists come from the highest members of the caste hierarchy.