Ayyappan tiyatta
Ayyappan tiyatta ( malayalam ), also Tiyattiyattam , is a religious ritual theater that is held in the south Indian state of Kerala in honor of the Hindu god Ayyappan in his temples or in the house of a Nambudiri . Ayyappan is one of the most popular gods in Kerala. At the center of the action is a large floor painting ( kalam ) representing the deity , which is made by members of the Nambiar caste at the beginning of the performance and then destroyed in an obsessional dance. In the course of the dramatic development of the ritual, which lasts several hours, legends from the life of Ayyappan are recited by a narrator and interpreted by a dancer.
Cultural environment
Ayyappan is worshiped in numerous shrines and temples in Kerala and has properties similar to the Tamil patron god Aiyanar of Tamil Nadu . Another name for both gods, which indicates the starting point of their cult, is Shasta ( Sanskrit , "teacher"). The Shasta cult combines elements of belief from Shaivism and Vishnuism . Aiyanar and Ayyappan are spirits ( Bhutas ) who have risen from the old folk belief and have become sons of Shiva and Vishnu ; The latter appears here in his female form as a beautiful Mohini . Still pictures often show them riding on white horses. Given the clear numerical superiority of female deities in South India, a son of the two greatest male gods is of particular importance. This is evident in the annual pilgrimage season on Mount Sabarimala in the Western Ghats , when several million pilgrims - exclusively men - visit the Ayyappan Temple at the top. If the flow of pilgrims were to cease one day, according to legend, Ayyappan would be forced to marry the goddess Ganga and would lose his divine protective power. In human form, Ayyappan used to help the people of Kerala during troubled times.
In the classical dance drama Kathakali , Ayyappan is honored in two lesser-known plays. Stylistic devices such as drum music, make-up and costumes have passed from Ayyappan tiyatta to Kathakali , which, however, is performed as a secular dance not in the temple, but in the villages on a square outside.
While the six-part ritual drama Teyyam (general term for "God") in Kerala addresses different male or female deities, Ayyappan tiyatta is only about the named god. The temple ritual Bhagavati pattu , similar to Ayyappan tiyatta, takes place for the goddess Bhagavati, who is honored daily at her temples with the sounds of the hourglass drum idakka and the snail horn shanku . Nagayakshi kalam is the third related ritual for Nagayakshi; the name of this goddess is made up of Naga , the mythical snake and Yakshi, the feminine form of the demon Yaksha . In the center of all three ritual dramas is a floor image ( kalam ) of the deity. In the rituals Nagamandala , Ashlesha bali and Sarpam thullal in the Tulu Nadu area in Karnataka, the floor image takes the form of a mandala in which Nagas are invoked.
The performances take place only in Ayyappan temples or the homes of Nambudiris , one in Kerala to the Brahmins belonging caste instead. The rooms of a traditional Nambudiri house ( nalukettu ) are arranged in four buildings around an open, rectangular inner courtyard ( nadumittam ) and functionally oriented according to the compass. Three rooms are lined up along the west wall: in the northwest the room for childbirth and menstruation, which is ritually unclean ( vadakkeru ) due to the woman's blood ; adjoining a storage room for rice ( maccu ) and in the south-west corner the entrance area. The Ayyappan tiyatta ritual is held in a room called tekkini in the middle of the south wall. Along the east wall from south to north there is a guest room for men, a room for cult utensils , a room for festivities ( kizhakkini ) and the kitchen in the northeast corner . Opposite the tekkini on the north side of the courtyard is another room for special rites ( vadakkini ). An occasion for the ritual can be a request for prosperity or the fulfillment of a vow, perhaps after long wishes have finally helped that a son was born into the family of the previously childless Brahmin. The performers and organizers are members of the Nambiar caste. They are traditionally responsible for the temple service and are consequently close in the social hierarchy to the Nambudiri Brahmins, the top caste.
Performance practice
The ritual is divided into a preliminary puja (sacrifice, homage) to ensure that the event runs smoothly, followed by the creation of the floor painting, a series of dances, songs and dramatic acts accompanied by music, as well as the final obsession dance. A typical ritual lasts about eight hours from late afternoon to midnight.
As with yakshagana , other dance theaters and practically every new activity, the event begins with a puja for the lucky elephant god Ganesha . Typical tasks and tools of the temple priest include spraying water from a special silver vessel, murmuring mantras and making offerings. Incense sticks, flowers, brass lamps, coconuts and rice are piled up in the square. Meanwhile, some of the Nambiars sing price songs on Ganesha, Shiva, Ayyappan and Parvati .
The sword, with which the Ayyappan-possessed dancer will destroy the floor picture at the end, must be brought into a well-secured special room and must not be touched until then. It symbolizes the presence of the destructive Ayyappan. The room ( tekkini ) in which the floor picture is to be painted ( kalamezhutu ) is illuminated by four lamps that also mark the outer corners of the picture. The Nambiar painter begins to sketch the outlines of Ayyappan on his horse in an east-west direction with white rice flour on the floor. Later helpers fill the areas with colored powder, and after about 2.5 hours a picture about 3.3 × 2.7 meters is ready. The creation of the picture takes place largely unnoticed by the other participants and viewers.
While the Nambiars are still busy with the picture, a percussion orchestra in the entrance area of the house plays the vertical cylinder drum chenda (similar to the chande ) and the double-cone drum madhalam . With the drums getting louder and louder, the musicians move through the entire building and give the signal for some of the villagers who now come to the beginning of the actual ritual. The believers walk around the image of the gods in tekkini, which has meanwhile been surrounded by offerings . Only when a Brahmin brought the sword so that it once encircled the courtyard and placed it on a chair at the head of the portrait (in the east), Ayyappan is considered to have entered the portrait and it is now venerated accordingly.
Meanwhile, some Nambiars sing more songs of praise to the gods, accompanied by the aforementioned drums and hand cymbals ( elathalam ). In the next item on the program, the actors perform twelve episodes from the Ayyappan legend and put them into individual solo performances ( kottum pattum ). The stories are about the life of God before he was born, after he was born and until he came to Kerala. Summaries of the ritual contain only one or two episodes. A Nambiar gives introductions to the stories, while a costumed actor takes on the role of Nandikeshvara , Shiva's mount and guardian, and tells some of the stories. At the foot of the picture, Nandikeshvara performs a slow dance, accompanied by two cylinder drums ( chenda ), the hourglass-shaped drum para (made from jackfruit ), cymbals and the double-reed instrument kuzhal . A similar monological dance theater ( kuttu ) in Kerala, in which a solo performer performs stories from the great Indian epics, is Chakyar kuttu .
In the story of the birth of Ayyappan, Vishnu appears in the form of the seductive Mohini before the demon ( asura ) Bhasmasura, who threatens Shiva. It is in the power of the demon to turn to ashes anyone on whose forehead he lays his hand. When Mohini puts his hand to her head, the demon - overwhelmed by her beauty - imitates this movement and dies. Thus, Vishnu saved the life of Shiva, who, however, also succumbed to the charm of the Mohini. Ayyappan emerges from their connection. In this scene the actor sits on the floor and sings a few lines of the text, then gets up and plays the roles in order to continue alternating with the narration and the dance interlude. This type of storytelling in pictures uses simple language enriched with facial expressions and gestures. The actor can embellish the theme, for example when he tells of Mohini's beauty, how she picks flowers in the garden with her long hair and then shows how she prepares herself in front of a mirror using dance expressions ( abhinaya ).
The climax of the entire ritual begins with the oracle dancer ( veliccappad ), who appears at the entrance door accompanied by some musicians. He wears a simple wraparound skirt (in Kerala mundu , otherwise lungi ), an additional colored scarf around his hips, a flower chain around his neck and a sword in hand. The noise level of the drums increases until the dancer has reached the tekkini after three tours . Until then, with faster and faster dance movements, the deity had taken possession of him. In full obsession, he trudges wildly across the floor and destroys everything including the surrounding offerings with his feet except for his face, which he is not allowed to step on. Here he runs his hands through it. Then the oracle dancer sits down on a chair at the head end (east) of the destroyed picture and begins to sing. He places the sword on a small chair in front of him. In picking up the sword again, he has the prophetic gift of Godhead. His fortune telling is now directed at the master of the house, he expresses his satisfaction over the successful completion of the ritual, then he turns to the assembled believers. Shivering violently, he puts the sword back on the chair and when he lets go, Ayyappan escapes from him. The remaining gray heap of the formerly brightly colored colors is picked up, the believers receive a point on their foreheads as a sign of blessing.
social environment
The event has a fascinating effect on the participating believers, as they experience a typical, dramatic increase in many rituals from “cool” preparations and cleansing rituals to the energetic, “hot” obsession dance. The stories from Ayyappan's life have an entertaining and educational function, until finally, after the image has been destroyed, the connection between believers and the deity is established with the delivery of ritually purified food ( prasada ).
The training to become a musician or performer in Ayyappan tiyatta is passed on within the family. The father is responsible for ensuring that his son has a thorough knowledge of the ritual. Often at the age of five, the son receives his first lesson and learns the twelve episodes from Ayyappan's life. Only when the boy has completed the Hindu transition ritual upanayana at the age of twelve and has received the sacred cord , he is allowed to practice the acting solo dances and the possession dance. A practice unit lasts several hours and is held at night in the courtyard of the house. Later the pupil takes part in the performances as a helper, for example by laying out the colored areas of the floor picture. For the first time, the student performs as a dancer himself at the age of 15 or 16. How the stage of obsession is reached is not a question of a special briefing, this state results for the dancer by practicing the same dance steps over and over again for years and internalizing the corresponding rhythmic patterns. After a few years, the tiyatti- Nambiar specialize in a certain task within the ritual.
literature
- Phillip B. Zarrilli: Ayyappan Tiyatta. In: Farley P. Richmond, Darius L. Swann, Phillip B. Zarrilli (Eds.): Indian Theater. Traditions of Performance. University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu 1990, pp. 151-165
Web links
- Ayyappan Thiyyattu in Kerala. Indian Net Zone
- K. Pradeep: Documenting a rare art. The Hindu, February 23, 2012
Individual evidence
- ^ Heinz Mode, Subodh Chandra: Indian Folk Art. Müller & Kiepenheuer, Hanau 1984, p. 251
- ↑ Ayyappan Thiyyattu in Kerala. Indian Net Zone
- ↑ Filippo Osella, Caroline Osella: “Ayyappan Saranam”: Masculinity and the Sabarimala Pilgrimage in Kerala. (PDF; 155 kB) Royal Anthropological Institute (NS) 9, 2003, pp. 729–753
- ^ John Glynn: Kathakali - A Study of the Aesthetic Processes of Popular Spectators and Elitist Appreciators Engaging with Performances in Kerala. (Thesis; PDF; 1.3 MB) University of Sydney, 2001, pp. 101, 111–115
- ^ Naveen Namboodiri: Confluence of Cultures. The Hindu, June 10, 2005
- ↑ Zarrilli, p 154: Plan
- ↑ Zarrilli, pp. 154-163
- ↑ Bindu Ramachandran: Significance of 'Kavu' - A Note on the Sacred Groves of Kerala in Eco-Cultural Context. ( Memento of the original from December 27, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 401 kB) Journal of Human Ecology, Vol. 10, No. 4, 1999, pp. 285-288
- ↑ Zarrilli, pp. 152f
