Theyyam after Ceremony
Theyyams are a kind of Hindu priest who dress in the fanciful costume of a deity and then become that deity during the special ceremony. While he is the goddess, he assumes superhuman powers blessing and healing the faithful. He goes into a sort of trance and parades about the temple, twirling, slashing his sword, smashing coconuts and listening to people who ask him for his help and prayers. The Theyyam ritual is more than 2000 years old.
The ability to become a Theyyam is handed down from father to son. Only certain families have this honor, and they are all in the Indian state of Kerala.
It takes quite a few men to get Theyyam ready for the ceremony. It takes an hour, maybe less for his face makeup. The men who draw the designs are very artistic and vary the designs for each Theyyam. Also, Theyyam might need a palm frond skirt, or he might need some fluffy white stuff glued to his skin…was it cotton? I don’t know. I do know that he wears a replica of a tiger’s tail. Tigers are important to the ceremony…maybe in times past tigers roamed the jungle in this area. Theyyams also wear huge headdresses which have to be set onto the Theyyam. The headdress is large and unwieldy but Theyyams manage to twirl and dance wearing them.
The people who attend the ceremony stay for hours, maybe all day. The temple prepares food for everyone, cooking huge cauldrons of a sweet pudding made with jaggery, a form of brown sugar.
I didn’t interact with this Theyyam. I was lucky enough to watch as his helper removed his costume. The light was perfect as it highlighted the young man and the background went dark…I helped with Photoshop to get this dramatic look, but luck was with me as well. Most of the Theyyams were older and wouldn’t be so interesting without their costumes, but this man would attract a second glance even in his everyday clothes.