Procession of 'Kaala" at the Kizhayoor temple festival along Bharatapuzha (River Nila)
Post harvest, it is festival time on the banks of the river. Once the harvest is over, empty paddy fields all along the three districts of Palakkad, Thrissur and Malappuram transform into festival grounds. An old age system of beating the heat by pumping in adrenalin during summer, these festivals bring together people of various communities and religions. Known for its uniqueness and variety of folk expressions, these festivals are still organised in all its vigour by small temples. Spiced up with legends and folklore, we have been taking some of our guests who are ready to brave the heat to these villages.
After one such festival trails, Jean Francois of UCPA commented, ''Your programs have people at its core. The seven day spent with your team on the banks of river Nila was a seven star experience, especially the cultural interaction and festival trails. I am not sure if I would have seen Kerala this way if I had travelled with some one else."
It is quite unfortunate that changes in life style and occupation of local people, has pushed many of the rituals associated with these festivals into oblivion. Some of these were related to the paddy fields, river, the rain, harvest and to the lives of those who toiled the land. While there were rituals to thank the rain Gods, most of the temple festivals were about seeking blessing for a better crop in the coming year.
With the efforts of some small organisations like Vayali, some of these rituals and festivals are being brought back into life these days. They are working towards the empowerment of folk artists and craftsmen associated with these age-old festivals through sustained community participation.
It is when we meet people who work behind organisations like Vayali that we are filled with hopes for a better tomorrow. Rather than waiting for someone else to take the lead, these youngsters have taken the responsibility for doing what they thought can be done by themselves!
Impressive! All our best wishes to Vinod and his wonderful team.
Jane was one of our lucky guests who saw this impromptu performance © Jane Weston
Bangalore © GP
2 comments:
thank you.haven't heard about the Vayali before. where do they operate from? haven't seen anything in the market
BTW,The Hindu has anglisised the Malayalam to such an extend that instead of study-centre you end up reading destruction(downfall)-center! Naattarivu Patanakendram!
Vishu came and is going......why no mention? esp. since you have linked to Vayali article that mentioned 'chozhi'
-Anonymous
Happy Vishu
thanks for the festival info on your blog :) Always good to read that there are people in the world who make an effort to sustain culture and long lasting traditions..
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