Teyyam

===**media type="youtube" key="PlnC8A8OtCw" height="390" width="480"Theyyam** === []


 * - the word is a distortion of the word //Deivam//, which means impersonating a God. Although it appears to be dangerous, it is not demonic, it is truly a human impersonating a God.
 * - deities in //Theyyam// can be Hindu Gods. or even the older Gods of the local religion! Sometime local deities specific to a temple or even heroes and noble women become deities and are impersonated.
 * -ritualistic dance of Malabar - Northern Kerala
 * -ritual happens around a tree where it is believed a god lives (sacred trees), also in compounds of certain households, or in temple structures known as //Sthanams,// adjoining a sacred grove known as //Kavu//. These trees are clothed in red cloth, indicating their holiness.
 * Every Theyyam festival is begun by the sharpening of weapons (swords and knives)
 * -A flagpole is erected in the village around which the dance is held, if a permanent flagpole does not exist already.
 * -performer undergoes fasting and penance before a performance to purify - this is an elaborate ritual, the organisers invite the performers and inform them about the dates of the performance and then the penance period starts, often the performer would go and stay in a separate building.
 * -ankle ornaments critical to identification of theyyam performers
 * -rice powder, tumeric used for elaborate full facial make-up - known as //Mukhathezuth//
 * -what are the brushes that theyyam use? What are they made of?
 * -costumes prepared by a washerwoman who considers it a sacred duty
 * -mirror ritual just before the performance to give the actor a vision of the transformation (just as in Noh theatre)
 * -intricate costumes done by hand in this form from local materials
 * -elaborate, extensive head dresses - //Thidumudi,// the bit where the performer puts them on is known as //Thimdumudi Azukkal//.
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The performances are mostly dance accompanied by percussion instruments
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">-Oh Terrifying Mother – book – research into the theyyam tradition
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">-fire dances which dancers dance through or thrown onto or rest upon - the performer in trance would often refuse to leave the embers and get up, assistants force him to do that
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">-benediction is considered from the god since the performer is in a trance
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">-mid-Feb to June is the season (the hottest period of the year)
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">-performers are from a particular tribe
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">-performances are over a 7 day festival – only performance each year – physically taxing - the entire community participates in the festival, a fair goes on, there are firework displays and music and dance performances, a community kitchen is opened for all visitors to have two meals a day.
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">-temples full of weapons – only open 2 days before the festival and during, the compound is cleaned with cow dung and water. Rituals begin by sharpening of holy weapons.
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">-some castes have a specific occupation, so all tribes hire another tribe for the theyyam because they can't perform it themselves, except for the//Pulaya// tribe, which is the lowest in the social strata, they organize and perform their own //Theyyams//.
 * <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">-How does this tie into Kathakali? - some of the dance movements are similar, the seat for the performer is same, the drums are similar, although the playing style is largely different! It could be argued that the more codified classical art forms of Kerala like Kutiyattam and Kathakali borrowed their face painting and costume style from the older, more primeval ritual art form //Theyyam.media type="youtube" key="E-8Qw5ua5vA" height="390" width="480"// media type="youtube" key="G_NRnRdw8Xk" height="390" width="480"