Theyyam Dance
Theyyam is a popular Hindu ritual form of worship in Kerala state in India predominant in the Kolathunadu area. As a living cult with several thousand-year-old traditions, rituals and customs, it embraces almost all the castes and classes of the Hindu religion in this region. The performers of Theyyam belong to the lower class community, and have an important position in Theyyam.
Performance— the dance or invocation is generally performed in front of the village Shrine. It is also performed in the houses as ancestor-worship with elaborate rites and rituals. It is performed without proper make-up or any decorative costume. Only a small, red headdress is worn on this occasion. There is no stage or curtain or other such arrangements for the performance. The devotees would be standing or some of them would be sitting on a sacred tree in front of the shrine.
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