I only learned about Theyyam by accident. I saw a few eye-catching photos of detailed masks out of this world. It immediately attracted me. Theyyam was the only reason why we decided to made a stop in Kannur during our trip. And it was worth it! Unimaginable things happened during our Theyyam experience and it will stay in our memories for a long time!
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How to get to Kannur
There are multiple ways to reach Kannur. You can fly to Kannur airport. There is also a possibility to reach Kannur by train. Check how to book a train in India in this article (soon). We find traveling by train around India to be the best and most convenient way. Many times it’s cheaper than flying. And it’s an interesting experience. It is also possible to come to Kannur by bus. You will most probably stop on Caltex junction. We only used night bus once and it was a nightmare.
Where to stay
There is a huge variety of hotels in Kannur. Whether you are looking for something budget-friendly or a bit more luxurious stay. We stayed at Surya heritage hotel and we can’t say one bad word about it.
They have the most customer oriented, friendly and helpful staff ever. These guys just helped us out so much! The rooms and the whole environment feels very pleasant and it’s a lovely place to stay!
About Theyyam
When
Theyyams only happen between November and March. That is the main seson for this festival. The peak months are November and December. You will find multiple Theyyams happening each day at different locations around the region.
Where
Theyyams only happen in North Malabar region. Kannur is the best base for you if you want to experience this rituals. There are hundreds of temples where you can watch Theyyam.
How to see Theyyam
There is a few Theyyam calendars available online. Usually they are performed in small temples in villages. Most of them are around 15-25km away from Kannur. The best thing you can do is ask locals. They will know when and where you should go. There are multiple tour companies providing Theyyam experience. Or you can simply pay a tuktuk driver to guide you around. Your hotel might also be able to help you with organization.
Our Theyyam experience
We came to Kannur thinking it will be easy for us to organize this trip on our own. We almost always avoid guides when possible. Later we talked to hotel staff about our plans. We realized it might not be that easy to do it alone. As metioned before, Theyyams usually happen a bit far from the city. That wouldn’t really be a problem. It gets more complicated. Theyyams almost always start in the evening and last until late night or even early morning. Some Theyyams finish at 1am while others go on until 4am. It might be really difficult to get a tuktuk from a small local village at this hours.
We were staying at Surya heritage hotel. One member of the staff Girish helped us organize everything. He arranged a person at the temple that was supposed to wait for us. Girish also called us a tuktuk driver and told him where to take us. It was 17:30 when we strated our journey. After 45 minutes in tuktuk we finally arrived.
There was only a very small temple. It consisted of one main building, one smaller building with a shrine and a few other rooms. The crowd was slowly getting bigger and bigger. The performer was getting ready for the ritual.
What is Theyyam
Theyyam is a ritual art form that has existed for thousands years. It is even older than Hinduism itself. Nowadays it combinees Hindu elements with its original form. Theyyam represent some kind of a connection to the Gods. Each temple is dedicated to certain Hindu deities. During Theyyam, each performace is related to one of them. Hindus believe, that during Theyyam they get closer to the Gods via the performer.
Men behind the performance
The perfomers are normal men. They have their homes, families, jobs, lifes… Usually they are trained for Theyyam performance since a young age. It’s a tradition passed from generation to generation. A few weeks before Theyyam they start to cleanse themselves. That means no meat, no bad word or talking about others and lot of prayers each day.
The God arrives
Performers have very diverse masks during Theyyams. They all have a very intricate and detailed face-paintings. The masks contain different elements which represent the God. Once our performer was ready, it was time to welcome Gods presence.
Performer came out to a small area in front of the temple. Some kind of a rig. People were standing around the square and impatiently waiting for the performance. First, Theyyam (the performer) stopped in front of the shrine and prayed. Drummers started beating in an unbelievable synchronicity. Older monks were standing around with torches made of leaves. Performer sat down on a wooden chair and with help of others the last piece of his mask was put on. The Theyyam has started.
Performer slowly stood up. His eyes were so bright, contrasting with deep black circles around. There was a pair of silver tusks around his mouth. His whole face was orange color with many details. He seemed truly majestic in his costume. Thick layers were forming a skirt around his legs. At the top, he had huge lotus-shaped mask. The whole appearance seemed supernatural.
The dance
Almost the whole performance is actually a dance. A very simple one. Theyyam started with a few cautious circles around the crowd. Most of the moves are just simple steps and stomping. After a while, permormer always came back to the middle of the square. Drums beat got faster as he started to spin. He was spinning around in such a quick pace our eyes couldn’t catch up.
Older monks were shaking the torches around him. This caused a lot of sparks and created a wonderful effect. After a few spins Theyyam slowed down. He caught his breath and moved around in a circle again. During performace he made a few stops by the shrine and the temple and prayed. Occassionally, he would throw small white balls (probably rice) around the crowd.
This was going on for more than an hour or two. We completely lost sense of time during the ritual. Some Theyyams are even longer, they can go on for hours without a break. A few times Theyyam would enter the crowd a bit rageously. People were trying to shove money into his hands in order to get a blessing.
Unexpected surprise - animal sacrifice
A story of the temple and the deity is told during this whole ritual. Performers even narate it in the original language. Locals might have troubles understaning it, since it’s developed over the time. By the end of the performance Theyyam depicted killing of a demon. It was cutting of a part of banana tree representing this act. But not only this.
A few minutes later, a cock was brought. Monks quickly put a piece of cloth around Theyyam to prevent the mask from getting dirty. Theyyam grabbed a smaller knife and quickly slit the throat of the cock. It was all so fast. Kids started screaming. Blood was dripping from the poor dead animal.
Welcoming locals
All the locals there were very friendly and welcoming towards us. We were the only foreigners. Everyone was curious where we come from and how is our experience in India. Many monks told us we are more than welcome there and we can photograph as much as we want. It was all very nice of them. A few people came to take a picture with us. Or just to talk to us for a bit. The monks from the temple told us we can have some food if we’ll get hungry.
Right after the first ceremony two young girls came to us. They invited us to their home for dinner. It was such a lovely surprise. They were worried we might be hungry since there were no restaurants or shops opened anymore. Their mom prepared very delicious dinner for us and we had a wonderful time with them! Such a pleasure. This is something you usually don’t experience in Europe.
Second Theyyam
There were actually 2 Theyyams scheduled for that day. The second one was supposed to start at 22:30. Of course they were running late. We were waiting until almost midnight. Between Theyyams there was a cultural program and band singing. The performance was done by the same man. Only the costume changed.
This time he was representing a different Goddess. His mask was really tall – around 7m. It represented hair of the Goddes. The whole performance was actually very similar. Even the animal sacrifice was a part of this one.
Fire Theyyam
There is more than 400 (some claim 800) Theyyams. Every single one of them is different. Probably the most attractive and fascinating is the “Fire Theyyam”. As you can probably imagine, it includes a lot of fire. The performer is actually walking through fire. It is believed that he never gets burner. We only saw a few photos and it looked crazy! It must be unforgettable experience to witness such a thing. Hopefully next time!
