Lessons of Sustainability: The Folk Reading of a Ritualistic Landscape

Abstract

This paper entails an investigation of the reciprocal relationship between the agrarian landscape and the cultic practice of teyyam prevailing in the cultural region of Kolattunāṭu. Focusing on the agrarian history, production pattern and the resultant social formations, it attempts an analytical reading of the socio-historical realities of teyyam in Kolattunāṭu. The characteristic features of teyyam performance and its consistent co-existence with the associated landscape have resulted in distinctive cultural and social formations in the region. The current research argues on the interdependencies of teyyam and its agrarian landscape and analyzes the multitude of ways in which liturgies of teyyam communicate exemplars of ecological and social sustainability. The aspects of sustainability intrinsic to the folk ritual are explored through three facets discussed in the paper. At the onset, the role of teyyam in shaping its sacred realm thereby simultaneously getting shaped by the singularities of geography is discussed. Second is an inquiry into the temporal and spatial dimensions of teyyam performance to establish the reciprocal relationship between teyyam and its ritualistic landscape. The third facet of the inquiry analyses the case of a folk performance through the spatial lens to decipher the layers of interdependencies within its sacred realm.