No one really knows when the Theyyam cult iniciated. Only is known that it´s very ancient, “even older than the Gods themselves” some villagers claimed to me, and perhaps one of the most primitifs rites of the Humankind. Some scholars belive this cult preeceds hinduism (3000 aC), and that some of its simbolic-coroeograhic traits date back from the early neolitic.
Traditionaly performed by sutras, the lowest indian cast in Hindu Society and country sidefolk, this tribal cult has evolved and syncretized along the Human History. It constituates a witness of our Origins, those of religion, those of dance and theather and, in general, those of the representational activity.
Theyyam is not about a mediation rite, but the re-presentation of the direct contact between the Divinity and the human kind. The devotees consider the Theyyam as a God himself, and at the end of the ritual they seek for his guidance for sorting out their everyday drama. While interacting with the atavic deity and listening to his advices, the villagers become part of the performance. Thus this cult constituates a sacral practice that gathers and integrates, brings identity to the folk and legitimates a specific axiology for the group. It becomes a organizing principle of their social action.
Developed in temples and villages of the malabar coast of north Kerala, in the proximities of Kannur, India, this serie intends to bear witness of this legendary cult, of the conditions of its practice on the height of our global and hightech XXI century society.
