Wordless Wednesday: Intense Expressions, untold stories…

Poorotsavam: A Unique Festival in North Kerala

Summer months in North Kerala is the time of festivals. If you are ready to brave the hot and humid conditions, ready to burn midnight oil, you will be rewarded with the best of experiences …

Poorotsavam is yet another unique festival celebrated in Northern Kerala to invoke the blessings of lord Kamadeva (Cupid) by young girls.

It’s a nine day festival and on the last day, a flower carpet is created with locally collected flowers. Velichappad or Pothi, a possessed one, visits houses and blesses devotees.

There are many other rituals and dance forms associated with Pooram (Poorotsavam) during all these days and the ambience is filled with sounds, lights and the fragrance of flowers…

Have a look at some of the images from this festival and thank you for your time 🙂

The Story Behind: Vishnumurthy Thottam

I have countless posts on Theyyams here, but none on the ‘Thottam Pattu’…

Each Theyyam performance is preceded by it’s Thottam, where the theyyam artist, with minimal make up, recites the story of theyyam.

Vishnumurthy theyyam is one of the most important and common theyyam performed as it’s based on lord Vishnu’s fourth avatar (incarnation), Narasimha.

The performance is so intense that, we get the true intensity of violence as the story unfolds.

The story is enacted on the following day without any recitation but with the rhythmic drum beats manipulating each step of the theyyam …

Wordless Wednesday: Together we stand…