Whistle-stopping through North Kerala

A few weeks back, I went on a week-long budget holiday to the north of Kerala – the three northernmost districts of Kasargod, Kannur and Wayanad. Admittedly, the north is not as pretty as its southern cousin, but it still has its own charms.

One of them is Theyyam, the reason I was here in the first place. It’s difficult to describe what Theyyam is. You could say it’s a dance form, similar to Kathakali, but it is also something much more. It shares with Kathakali the elaborate face-painting, the colourful costumes, the ornate headgear, but that’s where the similarity ends. While Kathakali acts out stories about the gods, the performers who don the Theyyam become gods themselves.

Steeped in religion and superstition, Theyyam is certainly not for the queasy. Walking on hot coals, possession by spirits, animal sacrifice – it’s all part of a Theyyam performance.

Theyyam performances take place all over north Kerala from November to April. They are a visual spectacle, red being the predominant colour from the painted faces to the costumes to the headgear. And people throng to get blessed by the gods. The devotion and humility with which people listen to the performers parroting blessings in exchange for money was something which really amazed me.

The north of Kerala has quite a substantial Muslim population. We took a ferry through the backwaters of Valiyaparamba, and at every stop a few women in burkha would climb aboard. When we reached the last stop, a long line of women all dressed in black trooped out of the boat. It was like watching an Afghani film or Mani Rathnam’s Bombay right in front of my eyes.

We also made a 3-day whistle-stop tour through Wayanad. Wayanad is forest country. And the road from Kannur to Manantawadi passes through some very dense forest. There were parts when I couldn’t see the sun through the trees. The attractions of Wayanad are the inhabitants of the forests – both tribal and animal. We didn’t really have the time though to venture deep into the forest where the tribal settlements are, and with the animals too, our luck was no better. The jeep ahead of us spotted a tiger, the one after us spotted a leopard. We, on the other hand, had to make do with elephants and spotted deer.

A must-visit in Wayanad is the Edakkal caves. Clambering over the rocks is a physical and mental challenge, and quite a thrill. And the pre-historic cave paintings simply awesome.