Kerala Magic

From Wayanad, Charlie and I travel into Kerala. We have chosen to stay at the guest house, Casa Malabari, in Kannur because the owner is an expert on the local Keralan-Hindu dance tradition of theyyam. And we are not disappointed. At 9 am on our first morning there, the owner tells us that there is a ceremony going on as we were speaking. Charlie and I race in an auto-rickshaw to a local temple jam-packed with people of all ages. We witness 4 theyyam performers. And we don't understand all that is going on. What we have been told and try to make out is that the performers are believed to undergo a transformation from their normal selves into the Hindu gods and goddesses they portray. Their dancing is part of the process of the gods' spirits inhabiting the performers' bodies. And after the dance is over, and the transformation complete, the gods, speaking through the performers, can give special messages, answer questions and possibly tell the future.

Charlie finds the performance riveting. In studying drama, he has learned that such pagan, religious ceremonies were the origins of theater.

In all honesty, I find the ceremony perplexing. Is it mere symbolism and artistry? People lined up in all seriousness for the psychic hotline part of the show. I am left with more questions than I had when I arrived.