How Seetha Sathish burnt the Thirayattam dance floor reducing gender barriers to ashes

Thirayattam is an ethnic folk art performed by men wearing colourful attires and headgears to propitiate the deities at the sacred groves and ancestral temples in the northern part of Kerala. Rooted in the Dravidian concept of mother god, the art form represents the coexistence of all creatures on earth. Even though many ancient art forms underwent changes over time due to various social and cultural influences, Thirayattam survived as a ritual and an art mainly because its basic elements of movements and gestures were rooted in nature.

Like many children, Seetha Sathish also grew up watching Thirayattam at her father’s ancestral home in Kozhikode. She developed a sense of attachment with the ethnic art form, particularly the ‘Kolams’ (various forms of deities) of goddesses such as Bhadrakali, Bhagavathi and Chamundi. She wanted to perform Thirayattam but elders in the family were against this as only men belonging to a particular community performed it. When she started imitating the steps of Thirayattam at home, Seetha’s grandmother told her to not invite the wrath of family deities.

Even as parents rather sent her to learn Bharatanatyam, Seetha’s heart remained fixated on Thirayattam, but no one was willing to teach her. She had to wait for more than 15 years until she joined a college for higher studies. It was during this time, Moorkkanad Peethambaran, a traditional Thirayattam performer, happened to visit Seetha’s college to give a demonstrative lecture on this ethnic art form. When Seetha told Peethambaran about her wish, the master thought it was just an infatuation. He was a little conflicted over providing training to Seetha in an art form considered to be a taboo for women. In his 50-year-long career, Peethambaran had never come across such a request from any woman. It was considered a taboo for women to perform Thirayattam. However, repeated requests from Seetha over the phone made Peethambaran relent eventually.

Six months ago, Seetha first performed Thirayattam at a public park in Kozhikode. The event evoked tremendous response as it was the first time a female performed Thirayattam. She then performed at the Dravidian University in Andhra Pradesh. As things were moving in the right direction, a bout of chickenpox brought in a stumbling block to Seetha’s plans. Her mother said the family deity was angry because Seetha performed Thirayattam and that’s why she got infected. Her father, however, was supportive. He encouraged Seetha to go ahead.

“I am not keen on the ritualistic side of Thirayattam. I look at it as an ancient dance form. I love the steps and movements of it as they are vibrant and natural, a reason why I got attracted to it even as a child,” said Seetha, who is pursuing her B.Ed in Thrissur.

For Seetha learning the ancient dance is not an act of defiance or merely a hobby. She aspires to preserve Thirayattam as an art form and promote it globally. Seetha said even though she was not allowed to perform Thirayattam at the sacred groves and ancestral houses due to the existing social taboos, she is happy for what she is doing today. “I don’t want to break any belief system or hurt anyone. I rather want to show that women can also perform Thirayattam. We can see the roots of Thirayattam in Sangam literature. The art form is closely linked to our culture and civilization. I want to promote it across the world,” said the 26-year-old.

As a Bharatanatyam dancer, it was not very difficult for her to pick up the steps of Thirayattam. However, Peethambaran faced stiff opposition from people for teaching Seetha. “I have been performing Thirayattam since I was 10 years old. A year ago, when Seetha asked me whether I could teach her, I initially didn’t take it seriously. No woman had ever approached me with such a request. But she was serious,” Peethambaran, who is the author of a book titled Thirayattam, published by the Kerala Bhasha Institute in 2017, told The Federal.

When Peethambaran asked Seetha whether she was able to travel more than 127 km on the road from her house in Thrissur to his training centre in Kozhikode, she said she was ready. Knowing the consequence of providing training to a girl in Thirayattam, Peethambaran sought approval from her parents. Seetha made her father call him. And that’s how it all began. “When Seetha came forward and told me that she wanted to learn the art form, I didn’t see anything wrong in training her. I could have trained my wife or daughter, but they didn’t want to learn Thirayattam because of the existing social and cultural taboos against women performing it. Seetha was so confident and passionate about the art form,” he added.

Thirayattam was once performed only by the members of the Perumannan community but some other communities such as Cherumar and Panar later started performing it. As it was their traditional art, members of the Perumannan community didn’t want to train outsiders, and this gradually reduced the popularity of the art form. As a traditional performer of Thirayattam, Peethambaran was a senior member in the Perumannan community. To popularise the art form, he started giving training to those outside his community. He crossed not only the barriers of caste but also religion. A senior student of Peethambaran was a Muslim. Many in his community were against the liberal and secular attitude of Peethambaran.

However, providing Thirayattam training to a woman was something beyond the limit of those in his community. Peethambaran was denied permission to perform the annual Thirayattam at the sacred groves and ancestral temples. “There were threats, mostly in the form of anonymous letters and phone calls. Some even sent abusive messages to my phone for teaching a woman Thirayattam. I am not new to such threats because I have given training to people belonging to other communities and religions. I didn’t take such threats and negative comments seriously because I want to preserve the art form. And I still believe Seetha is the ideal person for that,” said Peethambaran, who is the founder of the Kozhikode-based Ethnic Arts Council of India (EACI), an autonomous non-profit organisation to support ethnic, folk and other tangible performing arts of India.

Thirayattam is a ritual art form performed in sacred groves and ancestral family temples of south Malabar region (today’s Kozhikode and Malappuram districts) of Kerala. It is a mixture of dance, drama, songs, instrumental music, facial and bodily makeup, martial art and rituals. The rhythmic steps and speedy and ferocious movements add colour to it. There are kolams of Kali, Chamundi, Devi, Shiva and cult gods and goddesses in Thirayattam. Even though Thirayattam is different from Theyyam, another ethnic art form popular in the northern Malabar region, many including academicians and scholars consider the two to be same. Theyyam is also performed by men. There are more than 400 Theyyams so far identified in which only the Devakoothu Theyyam is performed by women.

In his forthcoming book titled, Thirayattam: Kavukalude Anushtana Rangakala (Thirayattam: A ritualistic performing art of the sacred groves), Peethambaran lists out 41 differences between Theyyam and Thirayattam. While Theyyam is performed in community temples, Thirayattam is strictly performed in sacred groves and ancestral homes. A Theyyam Kolam becomes god the moment the make-up is completed. He has the power to solve the issues of people based on the traditional belief system and also make suggestions on contentious issues. However, in Thirayattam, such powers are vested with the Velichapadu or Komarams — mediators between the god and the devotees. Each Kolam in Thirayattam will have facial and bodily make-up, using the materials available from nature. Percussion instruments like Chenda, Elathalam (brass bell), Kurumkuzhal are used in Theyyam, but Chenda, Elathalam, Thudi, Panchayudham and Kurumkuzhal are important in Thirayattam. Thudi is not used in Theyyam, but it is used in Thirayattam. Chilambu (anklet) is important in Theyyam but is not used in Thirayattam.

“I have argued with many academicians regarding the difference between Theyyam and Thira. Even folklore scholars like Bhargavan Pillai have accepted the difference and said both are different. My forthcoming book will clear all the doubts,” said Peethambaran, who is happy that Seetha broke the gender barrier. But this is just the beginning. “Seetha is capable of popularising the art form across the world,” he said.

While Seetha is happy with the progress she has made, she now wants to do more research on Thirayattam, starting with its origin. “The concept of mother god is important in Thirayattam and it is closely linked to Dravidian culture. I will try my level best to popularise this art form as a performer as well as a researcher,” she said.