louiseinlimbo

So why couldn’t I have spent longer in Hampi, which I liked so much?  Because I had an appointment with a local guide in the Keralan city of Kannur, to start an intensive three-day trip around various local temples to watch performances of the Theyyam rituals.  The reason I had come to India … as a result of seeing photographs of these rituals posted by a friend last year.  I didn’t really know anything about Theyyam, only that the ‘costumes’ were spectacular, and that I just HAD to see these for myself. & now, after three days with very little sleep (the fire-jumping elements mainly take place during the night), I still don’t know that much about it, but am so very glad I came to see it. What I did learn is that the responsibility for carrying out the rituals is inherited – and borne by the male members of some of the lowest castes in the area, sometimes from the historically 'untouchable' castes.  The tradition dates far back in time, believed to come from the ...