Theyyam Dance

 

Theyyam is a regional folk dance of Kerala which is performed to propitiate various Bhagavathi deities and other Goddesses, and Theyyam dancers are clad in colourful face make-up and elaborate costumes.

Theyyam originated from Kaliyattam. The indigenous tribal communities were handed over the responsibility to perform the Theyyam. These tribes included Malayar, Pana, Vannan and Velan.. As a living religious group with centuries old traditions, rituals and customs, it embraces almost all castes and classes of Hindu religion. The term Theyyam is a distorted form of 'Dhaivam' or God. It is a rare combination of dance and music and reflects important features of a tribal culture as a whole.

Though a dance form, it is not performed for entertainment, the purpose of this dance worship is to unite humanity with divinity.

For the spectators, this is no performance. The dancers are thought to get possessed by the spirits of gods and goddesses. Their performance is so pure and divine, the spirituality engulfs the atmosphere and the spectators both. The dancers arrive at the temple accompanied by the hypnotic rhythm of the drums. As the sounds of their footsteps grow nearer, reverence grips the crowds. They watch enthralled as the dancers, through their energetic and powerful performances as Gods, Goddesses, Demons, And Spirit, depict mythological stories. As the dancers perform their last act — walking or leaping into the fire, rolling on burning coal — they transcend their human bodies, appearing to be, to the watchers, the Gods themselves, capable of blessing or cursing, saving or destroying. The ritual ends with the dancers distributing blessings — kuri (turmeric powder) and rice. When the music begins to wind down, the devotees throw this rice on the theyyam.