Like his subjects, the deity too loves the good things in life, once in a while. Every day, as dusk falls, Shyamala lights a lamp in a small stone structure in front of her house. Once a month, she offers meat, toddy, cigarettes and boiled eggs to the deity sitting within, praying he would ward off all evils.
The folk deity who goes by the name Kappiri Muthappan does not look after Shyamala’s family alone. Around 15 families living at Veli, Fort Kochi and Mattancherry worship the cigar-smoking treasure-guarding spirit, who is said to have roots in distant Africa.
The lore goes that when the Portuguese arrived in Kerala 500 years ago, they brought with them many Kappiris or native Africans as slaves. But fortunes changed when the Dutch usurped power from them in a violent takeover. With little time to take away their amassed wealth,the Portuguese buried them in deep trenches along with the bodies of kappiris whom they slaughtered, in the belief that their ghosts would guard the treasures. But the Portuguese never returned. As the years passed by, a myth was born and people started believing in Kappiri Muthappan who rests on a wall called Kappiri Mathil (Negro wall), smoking a cigar.
Believer Jaya Ramesh Pai says she has observed the ritual from the day she bought the house where she lives now. “When I bought the house, the stone structure was there and the previous owner said that it would do me good if I observe the ritual. I light the lamp everyday and give offerings once in six months,” she said. Jaya being a Brahmin offers the deity bread, cigarettes and delicacies made of rice flour, instead of meat. The offerings are later consumed as prasadam.
Though people from different communities worship Kappiri Muthappan, locals say that most of them belong to the Vannar caste.
As in the case of other deities, there are special occasions when Kappiri Muthappan gets extra attention. The variety of offerings made to the deity goes up when there is an event at home. “We offer the deity a sumptuous meal during auspicious occasions,” said a believer, adding that it’s a tradition of faith handed down by their forefathers. Yet others started venerating the deity they inherited along with a house they bought. Nobody had the temerity to knock down the structures because of the belief that the Kappiri Muthappan has nothing to offer them but goodness.
