DEVAKOOTHU: WOMAN FOLK DANCE OF MALABAR, NEVER A PERFORMER IN THE DIASPORA

Abstract

Malabar, the northern part of Kerala, is a land of Theyyams. Theyyam is a folk-dance peculiar to Malabar. There are around 400 Theyyams performed by the lower caste people of Malaya or Peruvanaan community but worshipped by all strata of society when dons the costume of the same. The word Theyyam has evolved from the word ‘Daivam’, which means God in Malayalam. It is a dance form of Malabar, where people worship the heroes and heroines of the ancient village who have sacrificed their lives for the sake of the villagers and raised voice against the then landlords of Malabar. Devakoothu is the only Theyyam donned by a female in Malabar. Unlike other Theyyams donned by the male performers, this Theyyam does not involve much body movements but simple dance forms. This resembles some steps of Mohiniaatam but is performed in front of Kavu, the local shrine of the village unlike the mainstream dance forms like Kathakali, Mohiniaatam, Bharathanatyam etc. Women who are in their sixties of the mentioned family, past their menopause, are allowed to perform this only after following a forty-one-day strict penance. Devakoothu is on the verge of disappearance, and it is a fact that unlike many other Theyyam forms donned by the male performers, Devakoothu is never showcased in the diaspora. The only female performing Theyyam is not yet popular among the foreigners and the native land because the gendered space has never acknowledged her like the way the male performers of Theyyam are acknowledged these days. The paper here tries to focus on this aspect of Devakoothu.