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Goddesses of North Malabar An Anthropological Study on Kinship and Ritual in North Malabar MASTER THESIS -Thaniya Kaliyanthil Leela- Submitted in partial fulfilment of the MPhil degree Department of Social Anthropology University of Bergan 2016 Acknowledgements This research study would not have been possible without the infinite blessings of so many people.. • I am highly indebted to my Supervisor Prof. Olaf H Smedal for the continuous support of my research and thesis writing, for his patience, motivation, enthusiasm, and immense knowledge. His guidance and academic kindness helped me in all the time of research and writing of this thesis. I could not have imagined having a better supervisor and mentor for my MPhil study. • My mother, Leela, ‘thank you amma..’ for your infinite patience with severe criticism, and supporting me silently throughout my life. • My father, P M Balakrishnan, ‘Thank you Acha..’ for being my back bone and supporting me spiritually throughout my life. • Shrikant and Tharima, thank you for standing by me and lifted me up in the worst situations… • A special ‘Thank you’ goes to Pavla Jezkova, Course Administrator, University of Bergen, for extending your help whenever I was in need of institutional and administrative support. • I want to express my gratitude to my informants including performers, academics, friends, relatives, and neighbors who helped me to gather so much information so only a few will be mentioned. • This work would of course not have been possible without support of University of Bergen and Lanekassen- State Loan Fund. • My debt of gratitude to Binu Mash, for letting me know the opportunity extended by KCHR. Thank you KCHR for the recommendation and the reference that made to University of Bergen. • My thanks and appreciations also goes to my fellow classmates and colleagues specially Al’azar, Elias, Larisa and Thressy Chechy. Without you my days in Bergan were incomplete. • Thank you Sruthi Rajan, Nishechy, Sudheeshana and Kichu for the help you have extended... • I am out of words to thank you my daughter, Siddhartha for being a very cooperative new born and for tolerating your mothers short term absences. • Thank you Moocha (Ammukutty), Aangale(Karthikeyan), and Shri for saving my life from the accident that you know… • A big thanks to my inner self for being with me during my sufferings and giving me different insights to cope up… iii Finally, I wish to dedicate this work to two people: my Partner in Crime, Aji Anand, for all the things you do as father to Siddhartha Sangvi and being a catalyst to complete this thesis. And to Prof. Olaf H Smedal for your guidance, academic kindness, and unfailing support. You are one of the most thoughtful academics I know. iv Abstract This study explores the relationship between kinship and the ritual theyyam worship of North Malabar region in the state of Kerala, India. personal identity is the tharavad, and that the tharavad is the locus of theyyam roles (and other prerogatives). Theyyam is a socio-religious ritual in which mythological, divine, ancestral, animal, serpent or heroic characters are represented, each with its distinct physical shape and story of origin. Moreover, it is an attempt to investigate the relationship between ritual and kinship at a point in time when there is a transformation of the kinship system on which the ritual is constructed. The thesis aims to explain North Malabar, the theyyam worship and the kinship system separately and then reaching a common ground of discussion on how the changes in the kinship pattern initiated by colonial legislations reflect on the society and in turn on the ritual performance. The study overall suggests that the encompassing and dominant element in North Malabar. The major way that the tharavads can celebrate and express their religious faith or convictions is through the theyyam — the theyyam being not a cultural spectacle (performance) but religious worship. Theyyam is fundamentally a product of collective life and the theyyam knowledge will be used by, and kept moving through, networks of kinship and the tharavad. The collective theyyam knowledge has been in existence for many centuries in the form of stories and songs, maintained through a joint family tharavad and passed on from generation to generation. But all the collective knowledge which existed in that system was shattered after the disintegration of the tharavad. The reservoir of the collective knowledge related to theyyam now resides with the great grand parents whose prominence – along with their goddesses – are fading from the nuclear family oriented North Malabari’s day to day life. The fieldwork on which this ethnography is based was conducted in the region of North Malabar in the northern part of Indian state of Kerala. The methodology used in this research include both archival works and the collection of ethnographic data. How changes in the kinship patterns are interwoven with the ritual practices were captured through fieldwork. Oral sources were tapped by conducting interviews – both individually and in groups – with the aim to trace the history of matriliny in theyyam, to gather materials on cosmology in the form of myths related to tharavad and theyyam, placing specific importance on Goddesses in Theyyam; and to understand changes in the caste identities as documented in petitions, writings, letters, government documents, police and court files, newspaper reports, and cinema, fiction included. Primary sources, both unpublished and published records as well as secondary sources, have also been utilized for the research. People's recollections were recorded to the extent traceable. v TABLE OF CONTENTS List of illustrations……………………………………………………………………….viii Chapter I Introduction…………………………………………………………………...1 North Malabar……………………………………………………………………………...1 Theyyam…………………………………………………………………………………....6 Kinship and the Lineage Relation in the theyyam ritual………………………………..….8 Literature Review……………………………………………………………………..…..11 Fieldwork and Method………………………………………………………………..…..14 Chapterization………………………………………………………………………..…...15 Chapter 2 Kinship, its socio-political shift, and the changing pattern of caste identity…............................................................................................................................16 The Caste System………………………..………………………………………………..16 Matriliny and Tharavad…………………..……………………………………………….22 The disintegration of the tharavad………..……………………………………………………...33 The contemporary phase………………..………………………………………………....39 Summary of the chapter……………..………………………………………………….....41 Chapter 3 Walking with theyyam, theyyakkaran (the performer) and the people……………………………………………………………………………………..43 The background……………………………………………………………..…………….45 The Performer…………………………………………………………………..…………49 The ritual spaces and other castes engaging with the ritual…………………....…..……...54 The present situation………………………………………………………………….…...58 Summery of the chapter……………………………………………………………..........63 Chapter 4 Tracing the present day theyyam: A walk through North Malabar consciousness…………………………………………………………………………….65 Internalisation, identification and articulation of theyyam by the participants of different generations………………………………………………………………………………..66 Articulation, internalization and identification of theyyam by the theyyakkar in different generations………………………………………………………….……………………..76 vi Examining how the disintegration of tharavad reflects on society and in turn on the ritual performance……………………………………………………………………………….79 Summary of the chapter…………………………………………………………………..81 Chapter 5 Discussion and Summary…………………………..……………………….83 Bibliography…………..…………………………………………..……………………..88 vii List of Illustrations Location map- Kerala, Kasaragod and Kannur District…………………………………………….ix Map of field site of the study………………………………………………………………….....x Table: 2.1 The categories based on the caste after Independence and the establishment of the Indian constitution…………………………………………………………………………………………21 Table: 2. 2 A few examples of caste and titles used by theyyam……………………………………….32 Table 3.1: Caste and Categories of theyyam performers…………………………………………...50 viii Map of Location- Kerala, Kasaragod and Kannur District INDIA KERALA Drawing by author. Map not to scale. ix Map of field site of the study. KASARAGOD DISTRICT KANNUR DISTRICT Drawing by author. Map not to scale. x Chapter 1 Introduction This study explores the relationship between kinship and the ritual theyyam worship of North Malabar region in the state of Kerala, India. Moreover, it is an attempt to investigate the relationship between ritual and kinship at a point in time when there is a transformation of the kinship system on which the ritual is constructed. The fieldwork on which this ethnography is based was conducted in the region of North Malabar in the northern part of Indian state of Kerala. I aim in my thesis to explain North Malabar, the theyyam worship and the kinship system separately and then reaching a common ground of discussion on how the changes in the kinship pattern reflect on the society and in turn on the ritual performance. Changes in the structure and practices of families in Kerala have had wide ranging implications. Alterations in marriage, inheritance and succession practices have changed dramatically the workings of erstwhile matrilineal groups. About twenty items of legislation which marked the gradual revocation of a legal framework of matriliny were enacted between 1802 and 1976. Among the theyyam worshipping castes the majority were matrilineal