Sprawling unintelligible blessings towards the roaring crowd ‘Muthappan’ shivered from head to toe. The sanguinity and the divine aura emitting from the mammoth ‘Theyyam’ makes him the reincarnation of ‘Shiva’ himself. For most southerners, Theyyam is a blur of vermillion radiating palpable fear on the onlookers. But for culturally enriched north-Kerala crowd it is a ritual from the yore they embrace with all their heart. The silent shrines (Kaavu) of Kannur and Wayanad wait patiently for the cadence and rhythm, this ritual brings to their doors.
No one but a ‘Vannan’ can practice ‘Theyyam’, for the secrets of this folklore are only known to the ‘Vannan’ community. The steps, costumes and ‘mukhathezhuthu’ (face drawings) practices have been passed on to the next generation vocally. Hence, no scriptures relating to ‘Theyyam’ practice are available.
Santhosh Kumar, a ‘Theyyam’ practitioner, specialised in ‘mukhathezhuthu’ is trying to reinvent the age-old tradition of the ritual, by recreating the essence of the same in his ‘Theyyam’ masks. Santhosh hailing from Kannur, has grown up watching his father, uncles and brothers giving their life and soul for this ritual.
“‘Theyyam’ is not an art form. It is a ritual, a meditation, hence those who practice ‘Theyyam’ are practitioners not performers or artists. But today, ‘Theyyam’ grabs many an eyeball because most consider it as an art form just like Kathakali,” says Santhosh.
Renowned anthropologist Malinowski in his book, ‘Myth in primitive psychology’, says “Myths are not merely stories told but a reality lived.” Santhosh’s definition for ‘Theyyam’ is the same. This Theyyam aficionado, who works as an Art Director at Vyga Animation, Technopark is all set to chronicle the inherent divinity of ‘Theyyam’ through his ‘Theyyam’ masks.
“I have made a mask for the Kerala Folklore Academy about five years back. But the quality of the work was not satisfactory due to the lack of funds. Years later when my nephew came to me to learn the art of ‘mukhathezhuthu’, I realised that I have forgotten half of the ‘ezhuthu’. So I decided to revisit what I had learnt years back and tried it on handmade masks. No acrylic colours can match the natural ‘manayola’ (the natural-made orange colour) so I had to process the colours for days to remove the glossiness from it,” says Santhosh.
According to the legends, it was the Manthra-Thantra-Yoga exponent ‘Manakkadan Gurukkal’, who brought ‘Theyyam’ to existence. It is believed that king Kolathiri who wanted to test the Gurukkal of his skills invited him to his palace. The king had thrown many challenges on Gurukkal’s way to the palace,which were not easy for a common man to surpass. However, Gurukkal reached the palace on time. For the king to believe his prowess, Gurukkal devised ‘Theyyam’ within a night’s time and presented it before the king.
Santhosh says, “The story may seem too far-fetched, but Vannan community believes in this legend as it needs a strong mind to design such a brilliant concept.”
Santhosh who is currently making a series of ‘Theyyam’ masks is planning an exhibition in the near future. Deftly following the 39 ‘Theyyam’ designs, Santhosh’s masks are made with fibre and acrylic colours.
“Theyyam’s language itself is different, I feel that they used such terms because they didn’t want any layman to learn the techniques. For ‘mukhathezhuthu’, there are terms such as ‘checki dalam’, ‘kadum thudi’, ‘vattakkannu’, ‘muri mookku’, ‘vajra dalam’ for each design. I researched on the terms within my family itself and learnt them,” he says.
Santhosh, who has been living in the capital city for the past thirteen years, has once performed ‘Muthappan’ before an audience here. However, he prefers ‘Mukhathezhuthu’ for practicing ‘Theyyam’.
“The make up for ‘Theyyam’ is as important as the ritual itself. Getting every nuances and line on the face is very important,” quips Santhosh.
He is making a PowerPoint presentation named ‘Theyyam and Tradition’ for his coming exhibition, which he is planning to conduct in Dubai, to give an introduction of the ritual to the audience.
Santhosh ardently believes that nothing can be removed or added to ‘Theyyam,’ as it in itself is wholesome. “However, in this age we will have to use other materials for the make up due to the dearth of natural colours,” Santhosh adds.