Ecological Ethos of Teyyam Worship
Authors :Rajesh Komath1
Abstract
The paper seeks to understand the interconnectedness of Teyyam, a ritual practice historically confined to the northern Kerala and the ecological embodiment of the groves/kavus of the region. Sacred geography of the Teyyam and the forms of Teyyam performed in sacred spaces are naturally and socially related to the lived places of various castes and ecological spaces of the groves. The paper also tries to make the distinctions of rituals or rites performed in these groves with that of Vedic or Brahminical rites performed in temples and argues that groves and the practice of Teyyam worship is more popular and invoke ecological ethos opposite to Vedic one which demarcate spaces of worship based on the graded inequality.
