Abstract
Theyyam is a ritual art form exclusive to Northern Kerala, performed by the Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes. It is the socio-religious movements that gave them a platform to put forth their problems and change the attitude and treatment of upper castes towards them. Until then, it was a medium for them to present the trauma and victimhood long endured by their community under casteism. This is well fabricated in various elements surrounding Theyyam, such as Thottam Pattu. Theyyam also projects the kinds of ritual and spiritual practices of their community. So, this research attempts to read Theyyam as an archive of the subaltern community by borrowing the Archive concept defined by Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak in her essay 'The Rani of Sirmur: An Essay in Reading the Archives.' As the art form is linked with religious beliefs, it has survived over the years, recognising the community's struggles under casteism and their heroic figures. Thus, this research also attempts to have a close reading of each element surrounding it.
Highlights
Theyyam is a sacred ritual performance exclusive to Northern Kerala, performed by the Scheduled Castes such as Cheruma, Pulaya, Velan, Malayan, Anjoottan, Munnottan, and Mannan/Vannan and Scheduled Tribes such as Mavilan, Kurichiar, Karimbalan, Kalanadi, Vettuvan, Malavettuvan
Apart from being a ritual art form, it provides the historical records of the struggle and their protest to the problems they faced from the upper castes under casteism
Reading Theyyam as an archive of the subaltern community puts forth culture and traditions, but it completely ignored women's actual voices and stories from their community
Summary
Theyyam is a sacred ritual performance exclusive to Northern Kerala, performed by the Scheduled Castes such as Cheruma, Pulaya, Velan, Malayan, Anjoottan, Munnottan, and Mannan/Vannan and Scheduled Tribes such as Mavilan, Kurichiar, Karimbalan, Kalanadi, Vettuvan, Malavettuvan. It is one of the oldest art forms in Kerala. The place of worship to the performer's costumes shows how much the art form is bounded with their community's cultural and spiritual practices These rituals are in practice from the olden times. Reading Theyyam as an Archive of The Subaltern Community of Northern Kerala its origin and through various things surrounding it, and so the art form projects its linkage with the community. It can be due to the lack of evidence that the historian gets on a matter, or it can be from the historian's analogy that certain matters are excluded
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