The chenda, the traditional festival drum of Kerala, starts with a slow beat. The venue is Kaalakaat Illam at Payyanur in Kannur district, Kerala—home to a clan of traditional wizards for many centuries. The occasion is Kaliyattam, the annual festival at Kaalakaat Illam held in honour of Uchitta Bhagavathi, in which the Mother Goddess is believed to manifest herself during the Theyyam performance. The Illam’s paved compound, surrounded by green paddy fields and guarded by old trees, is teeming with people eagerly waiting for the deity to make its ferocious entrance: the Chathan Temple with its gilded doors and antique wooden frame looks exotic and rare. Karimkuttichathan, or the player doing the role, is getting ready in the greenroom. Black paint on his face. Red garments. A flamboyant head-dress.
Meanwhile, another important event was being held in the Illam. The acharyas who head the traditional mantravadam families in Kerala are sitting together to discuss how to combine their powers. Even before the Kaliyattam begins, Subrahmanian Bhattathirippad has performed his mana’s special Ganapathi Homam. Also present are Kallur Krishnan Namboodiripad, Kattumadam Eshanan Namboodiripad and Kaalakaat Narayanan Namboodiripad. “We’re meeting for the first time, though some of us have been in contact occasionally. It must be the decision of the mantramurthy that we should sit together on this auspicious occasion,” assumes Kaalakaat Narayanan Namboodiripad, the present head of the Illam. He looks the part, attired in a red mundu with his torso bare.
With the rising rhythm of the drum, Karimkuttichathan rushes out of the greenroom and sits facing the temple as attendants give his costume finishing touches. Oracles possessed by other gods and goddesses get belligerent, seeing Chathan. The breath-taking ritual dance ends with Chathan symbolically overpowering them and then giving his blessing. “It is mesmerising to see Karimkuttichathan at Kaalakaat Illam,” says Kottanda Dhinesh, who has come all the way from Kodagu in Karnataka. Many such visitors stay at Kaalakaat for two days to participate in all the Kaliyattam rituals. “We had a personal problem and we prayed to the mantramurthy, Kuttichathan. It was solved and we come to Kaalakaat every year to offer our prayers,” Dhinesh says.
Offering prayers are also the four wizards. “We’re sowing the seeds of an attempt to straighten out certain notions of mantravadam. People have a misconception that traditional mantravadam is just witchcraft or sorcery,” says Kaalakaat Namboodiripad. Sreejith Vellu Mathom has been trying to evolve a referral point for mantravadam. “The platform could be a point of contact for anyone who wants to clear all doubts about it,” he believes. Ironically hailing from a Communist family in Payyanur, he was drawn to spirituality and Hindu philosophy under the influence of his grandfather.
“I follow the Kamakhya tradition of tantra, which is different from the Kerala variety,” he reveals, saying that organising the mantravadam families is essential to preserve the purity of the system, especially at a time when there are many new sensationalist players. Sreejith is certain that other wizards outside the Brahmin community can be brought into the system. “The meeting of the four acharyas is only a start. There is much more to be done,” he says. The Ganapathi Homam to honour the god of obstacles is just the beginning.
“We’re sowing the seeds of an attempt to straighten out certain notions of mantravadam. People have a misconception that traditional mantravadam is just witchcraft or sorcery.”
Sreejith Vellu Mathom, spiritual practitioner and mantravadam scholar