Theyyam
തെയ്യം teyyamA living ritual performance of northern Kerala in which a costumed, painted performer becomes possessed by a deity, hero or deified ancestor and is worshipped as that being, giving blessings and answering questions in the god's own voice, the divine retinue embodied rather than merely described.
Where this term appears
- The Beings of the Dark Treatise
In Kerala the same conviction becomes the extraordinary Theyyam , in which a costumed and painted performer is possessed by a deity, a hero or a deified ancestor and, for the hours of the rite, is worshipped as…
- The Nuclear Scientist and the Temple Treatise
…i, and with strong connections to the ritual-performance tradition of Theyyam and to the martial-arts tradition of Kalari .