Malabar Theyyam

Theyyam can be considered as an idol. Ancient people believed that any obstacle that nature brought in front of him was caused by a power, which himan intelligence coould not decipher.The ancient man started idolising the various entities in nature like wind, air, water and so on. Sooner or later, man thought of spreading this invisible power into his own inner self.

One person among his group was made to empower himselves with these unseen power and he was considered to be a form of God.This could be the one of the many ways how the art form Theyyam came into existance.The most significant aspect which make the indian culture stand out from others is its inclination towards intellectual thinking and extra sensory.Inellectual thinking and its tracking are deep rooted in the whole culture and even in every day life.The nature has gifted kerala with a lot of unique features both geographically and its its culture.People belonging to different caste culture and religion got settled through land, water, war, invasion and various other methods. Thus kerala has a unique multicultured, multicaste system in the whole artforms being performed.Theyyam are usually performed in the malabar regionin kerala state  which include the kannur, kasargode district, though its also seen in calicut district in a slightly altered form.

Every caste and religion had their own unique art forms and social behavious and mode of entertainment.But whenever such an artform enters the main stream, it become the artform of the whole society or the whole area, rather than that of a single religion.The ancient man expressed themselves through songs and dance steps with the aid of musical instruments in both happiness and bad times.People were soon turning their attention towards the social life.

Kaali

One of the most prominent story which seems to have influenced the artforms in kerala seems to be that of Bhadrakaali. Basically there are two artforms for kaali. One is that of Durga which is the form of mother and the other one that of daughter commonly knows as Bhadra.

Shiva created Bhadrakaali for demolishing the demon Darikan. Darikan had obtained boon from Bhrahma that no female could ever defeat him. Bhadrakaali fought with darikan which led to death of daarikan. Bhadrakaali returned back to kailasa, but her anger had not subsided.Shiva performed the Nataraja Dance form which made the bhadrakaali to calm down.

Shiva advised kaali that she should go to the earth and take care of the human beings there. Thus kaali became the traditional godess of kerala. As bhadrakaali was entertained and made to calm down through dance form, kerala people consider kaali as the godess of artform.

Dance of kaali is called kaali – aattam, which got reformed to kaliyattam. Kaliyattam is also known by the name thirayaattam. A religious celebration which is inclined towards a particular caste in society is called utsavam. Kaliyattam or Utsavam are usually performed after 10th of Malayalam month called Thulam. Bhadrakaali is performed as theyyam in various forms. Thaayi Para Devatha being the most prominent among them all.

Kaliyattam and theyyam can be considered as synonym between themselves. Kaliyattam are usually celebrated once in a year and during one kaliyattam, a lot of theyyam are performed. Some kaliyattam are celebrated once in a decade, such kaliyattams are usually celebrated in a grant style and known as perum kaliyattam. Numerous theyyams will be performed during perum kaliyattam. The art form theyyam are usually performed by performers from specific caste in society.e and agriculture. The art forms have an inevitable attachment with the farming.

Vannaan
Malayan
Paanan
Anjoottan
Munnoottan
Kalanaadi
Mavilan
Koppalan
Pulaya

Initial grouping of theyyams lead to a list of first and most important 35 theyyams which were approved by the king kolathiri in these days. This was the first royal embrace obtained for theyyam. This 35 theyyams were called muppathaivar. This list was created by famous theyyam artist manakkadan gurukkal. Later on 4 theyyams namely vayanatt kulavan, muchilott bhagavathy, kurathy and kundor chamundi were added to this list and expacded to 39.

Another variation regarding the term theyyam is that it originated from the term "Daivam"

Thira
In calicut and wayanad district, the theyyam forms are called thira. One of the myth behind the origin of the term thira is that, the performer acts with a headgear made of wood. This wooden headgear is called Thira. Another popular tale of origin for thira seems to be from another art/dance form Poothan and Thira. It has a semi circular headgear made of wood and this is called thira. Another one is from the term Darsanam which means Divine sight