World DE Theyyam

  Story The story of origin goes in this fashion. A person called Mannappan who hail from mangatt, in kannur district and belong to theeya caste, later became devine and peroformed as theyyam widely known as kathivanoor veeran. Mannappan was born to kumarappan and chakky couples. The naughty nature of mannappan lead him to be a headache for the family. One day mannappan was forced to exhile from his home and travel towards the Kodague currently know by the name Coorg. Though he had setout along wtih friends, they intoxicated him and thus Mannappan was set alone. Mannappan, with the help of a female called Chemmarathy found his relative in Coorg and got settled there. Mannappan started living by farming there and became an abled youth. When it became time for the marriage, mannappan decided to marry the female whom he met on his way to Coorg, called Chemmarathy. Soon, they got married. Mannappan used to travel long distance in pursue of the farming jobs he had. Chemmarathy...

Story Vayanatt kulavan can be considered as one of the most furious and acrobatic theyyams which are performed. The ferocious state is expressed in a comical way. Theyyam is usually performed with a bit of holy alcohol called Toddy. Vayanatt Kulavan is believed to be originated when Lord Shiva and Parvathi took the form of Hunters. The tale of origin is associated with Lord Shiva and Parvathy. Once they were travelling through forest called madhuvanam. Madhu means Toddy(Alcohol) and Vanam means Forest. Lord Shiva used to intake the toddy that used to drip from the trees(During those days, toddy used to drip from the bottom of the trees). Parvathy disliked this habit. One day when Shiva went for the intake, he found that the toddy which used to drip from the bottom had gone upwards. This agitated him. Shiva became furious. This trick was infact done by Parvathy Devi. In order to fetch the toddy, Shiva created a devine person, by tapping on his thigh. This devine person is consid...

Story The  Pottan Theyyam  performance depicts the futile social set up of a bygone era (yet in many ways it still carries a relevant message). It is based on an incident involving Shankaracharya, the proponent of Advaita Vedanta and widely credited to the revival of Hinduism (which had lost its sheen and many followers because of a rampant unjust social system and misinterpretation for selfish ends) and his path to enlightenment. Shankaracharya  was on his way to Sarvajnapeeta (symbolizing attainment of the ultimate  knowledge) when Lord Shiva decided to test Shankaracharya’s depth on true knowledge. Lord Shiva donned the guise of a ‘Chandala’ (in those days a cast who were on the lowest strata and untouchable) and blocked the learned high cast Aacharya’s way.  Aacharya commands the ‘Chandala’ to move out of his way, but Chandala stands his ground and throws questions at the Aacharya on how and why is he different from...

MUTHAPPAN  STORY Shree Muthappan is the most popular local god in the Kannur District of north Kerala state, south India. Muthappan is also the theyyam performed in the famous Parassinikkadavu temple 20 km north of Kannur town.  Shree Muthappan is believed to be the personification of two divine figures - Thiruvappana and Vellatom.Though Shree Muthappan represents a  SINGLE  god, it represents two godly figures, Vishnu (with fish shaped crown) and Shiva (a crescent shaped crown).    The boy used to visit the jungle near by their house (mana)for hunting with his bow and arrows. He would take food with the poor and with the backward communities. As these acts were against the Namboothiri way of life, his parents earnestly requested him to stop this practice. But the boy turned a deaf ear to their warnings. Ayyankara Vazhunavar became very disappointed.  One day the boy went to his parents and shown his parents his divine ...