The grand canvas of Kodungalloor Bharani: an analysis of a temple festivity that incorporates Caste politics, Sexuality, Gender and Foul Language

      India is a country incorporating a plethora of caste-based communities and their religious festivities. Rituals and traditions are given so much importance and they all usually favour the upper class and upper caste categories. New rituals and rebellions were formed by lower caste communities to claim their right to practise a religion and participate in festivities. Post- Independence India appears to be more liberal yet it's shocking to notice how in certain parts of India, many temple rituals still adhere to caste rules and prejudices.  One such festivity is Kodungalloor Bharani that occurs every year in the state of Kerala. It's special due to a variety of reasons. One way it is the liberation of lower caste community to practise their faith with no fear but in another way, such a single day's spectacle actually reaffirms their lower caste position.  This paper explores how Kodungalloor Bharani inflicts both pain and pleasure in caste and gender politics. Does it play fair to the faith of lower caste community?

                   Kodungalloor Bharani occurs at the month of March every year in Kerala. Kodungalloor temple's speciality extends backwards to the date where it was one of the few temples which allowed low caste people to enter the temple premises. It's unique tradition, festivities and history make it a prominent destination for scholars of subaltern studies and festival enthusiasts.  The most noteworthy feature of Kodungalloor temple is its bharanipaatu .The bharanipaatu contains within itself two divisions: the Devi stotram and the theripaatu. Through Devi stotrams, devotees praise the goddess and her victory over Darika. This is the most widely known form around Kerala as well. The second variety: theripaatu, (songs with foul usages), praise her sexuality and body. It’s this version that causes much of the controversies. The very act creates a divide between the upper caste and the lower caste but at the same time affirms the power of devotion of the lower caste to execute the temple festivity. The participants include both men and woman. The gender issue fades in such a time and everyone dances like an Oracle. Discussions occur within academic circles whether such a ritual is an insult to womanhood or not. In one way it is an insult but in another way, it's pure devotion towards the female deity since they address only one goddess and not the entire womanhood.

       The innuendo-filled song sung by both men and women is said to give liberation to the suppressed libido of both the goddess and her followers. The song is followed by a dance performed by men and women dressed up as the goddess. They carry special swords used by vellichapadu[1] and inflict injury on the forehead. Until blood streams from the forehead and gets sanitised by turmeric powder, the dance and song continue. The rituals also include blood sacrifice by killing a rooster and drinking alcohol. Since the rituals are quite different from ones followed by other temples, Kodungalloor Bharani has gained a notorious status too.    Movements to ban and censor the bharanipaatu is taken up by upper caste members to get rid of, what they apparently call "stains" on temple's reputation. They accuse that such "bizarre" festivities are not appropriate and regulate the audio records of lewd songs to prevent public from accessing it. The whole festival's highlight is the immense participation from people belonging to lower caste communities and a mixture of so-called "strict and sacred Brahminical traditions" with faith and language of the laymen. Even due to such regulations, the festival, the sanitised versions of the subaltern songs and bharanipaatu have gained immense popularity among Kerala audience.

" With the help of her retinue, Kali is said to have achieved victory over Darika on Ashwatinaal (special star of a day) in Meenamasam (month of Malayalam Calendar). This is the day that the Bharani is celebrated. It is on this day that the kavu teendal (purposefully "polluting" the temple premise) ceremony takes place. The day starts with the Ashwati pooja, after which the different castes and groups assume their positions on their respective avakasha tharas (a position reserved for their castes). The Raja gives the signal for the kavu teendal ceremony to start. He generally gives the signal, on seeing a krishnaparindu (eagle) or Brahmini kite. At his signal, the Palakya Velan (a member of a particular caste community) first jumps and touches the temple wall. Then all the vellichapadus and other devotees start the kavu teendal. Flashing their swords and joined in what seems like a collective frenzy, they circle the temple. After circling the temple, they touch their sword to the outer bar on the temple wall. During the kavu teendal, the devotees also hurl pepper, turmeric and rice into the temple. The bharanipaatu (devi stotram and theripaatu) are also sung as part of the kavu teendal ceremony. The following day, on Bharaninaal, a pooja takes place after which the temple is shut for seven days for cleansing the temple premises from "pollution and stains". (SP,3 )

       The history of Kodungalloor Bharani is quite vague since upper caste and lower caste have different interpretations. M.J Gentes puts forward a separate thought that the festival was born out of a tactical move on the part of the Hindus in the area to usurp Buddhist property.

" The kavu teendal ceremony at the Bharani then may have originated as a Brahminical move to usurp the Buddhist shrine. Teendal has several meanings in Malayalam. One of its most contentious meanings is to pollute. Sadasivan (2000) and Gentes (1992) believe that Hindus in the area threw meat and alcohol into the Buddhist monasteries; anything that desecrated the sacred space of the Buddhist shrines. They are also believed to have harassed the Buddhist monks and nuns by constantly hurling sexually explicit abuses at them. While devotees and priests deny this possibility, other scholars believe that this was indeed possible. Once the land was usurped and the Buddhists driven out, these acts of vandalism were slowly subdued and co-opted into the festival of the Bharani." (SP, 6)

       The Brahminical version attributes the temple and its festivities to Bhadrakali to commemorate the victory of Kali over a demon called Darika. Some of the historians attribute the temple to Kannagi lore. This is one of the most believed myths as well. This is supported by the attire used by komarams (performers of bharani clad in the dress of goddess), where they carry a single anklet and dress in red clothes.

"After destroying Madurai, Kannagi is said to have walked from Madurai to Kodungalloor, where she is said to have attained samadhi. The Raja of the time built a temple to her and captured her 'shakti' in the deity he installed. Over time, it was thought to be unnecessary for two female shaktis to exist separately and Kannagi's shakti was invoked and moved to the deity at the main Kodungalloor temple. When the theripaatu are sung for Kannagi, the songs are meant to arouse the Goddess and to provide an outlet to the young widow who was unable to consummate the marriage with her husband. The ritual is not intended for the devotees’ arousal alone; it is intended to “manipulate the emotion” (Chaniotis, 2010) of the Goddess. Much like 'the earth in the hot dry months of the summer season' (Caldwell, 2003), the Goddess is assumed to be in heated – either because of her status as a sexually unfulfilled widow or because she is a warrior just returning from the battlegrounds. The songs along with the other rituals of the Bharani festival are intended to help cool down the Goddess." (SP, 15)

Another version of the same lore attaches the ritual of singing Theripaatu to Nalachan.

"It is believed that the theripaatu are not sung for a young, sexually unfulfilled widow but instead were meant for Nalachan – a friend of Kannagi and Kovalan. Once, Kannagi and Kovalan were travelling, they stopped enroute at Nalachan's place. In the middle of the night, while Kovalan was asleep, Nalachan propositioned Kannagi. Kannagi, who knew the duties she had to fulfil as an incarnation of the Goddess, asked Nalachan to come to Kodungalloor at a certain time, where she promised she would satiate his desire. Much later, after Kannagi had burned down Madurai and arrived at Kodungalloor, Nalachan came to claim what he had been promised. Kannagi (the Goddess at Kodungalloor now) transformed Nalachan into a stone and rooted him to one spot. However, every year to keep her promise, she called upon her devotees to sing songs to satiate Nalachan's desire." (SP, 8)

       Some others like Capt. Ajith Vadakayil accuses that such an "immoral mischief" was introduced by EVR Periyar and White Christian invaders. He states that such an event was organised to portray Hinduism in a bad light and encourage conversions. He writes in his blog that:

“The Portuguese snatched away Kodungallur from the Calicut king. The town of Kodungallur was almost completely destroyed by the Portuguese ( Suarez de Menezes ) on 1 September 1504.  In 1662, the Dutch drove away the Portuguese.  In 1789 Tipu took control of the Kodungallur fort and renamed it Tipu Sultan fort.  This is when the gold kodimaram , ( the flag staff  ) went missing. And this is the flag staff the Devi wants back desperately, with foul and vulgar sexual connotations. Its golden Kodimaram ( temple flag post ) was stolen and the Nandi bull was smashed. The priests managed to hide the smaller idols. After the owner of British East India company Jew Rothschild, swiped away Tipu Sultan's gold ( all from Kerala temples ) the British locked the vaults -- these vaults are still locked , with a curse attached to opening the vaults ever again .They even gave dished out a propaganda that Kannaki's dead body is inside the vaults." (Ajit Vadakayil, 2013)

       Whatever the history may be, the festival is now famous for its subaltern leanings. Though upper caste members participate in the pooja, they shut the doors and windows of their home when Bharanipaatu starts. It becomes the platform of celebration for low caste sections and the atmosphere turns to that of frenzy and trance. Komarams forget the surroundings and dance as if they are possessed. The abuse and slurs thrown at goddess make the environment chaotic yet equally pushes the devotees into an ecstasy. Shwetha Radhakrishnan in her paper on "Sanitising the Profane", quotes the interview of a devotee. The devotee states that since Brahmins are so obsessed with purity and pollution they cannot appease the goddess properly. " The Goddess does not want their bland devotion. She needs fire. She needs madness. She wants alcohol, blood and sexual release. Only we, from the lower castes are willing to take on the label of 'polluting agents' to appease the Goddess". The theripaatu is the symbol of sex and sexual pleasure. According to tantric traditions, it is an important offer. The temple, mixture of Samayacharam and Kavalcharam forms of worship follow Panchamakaram pooja, where the five offerings of worship are malsyam, mamsam, maithunam, mudra and madyam (fish, meat, sex, grain and alcohol). Most of these are presented just symbolically. In this case, Theripaatu is the symbolic representation of sex.

       The whole prejudice towards the lewd song sheds light upon the hypocrisy of upper caste morality. The people who object the ritual fail to realise that the essence of such a song is devotion and no disrespect to the female form. The very name "theripaatu" which translates to "songs with the slur" denigrates the values of devotion. The double standards of the upper caste community come from their different approach towards erotic usages in Sanskrit stotrams and erotic usages in the common tongue. The one in common tongue is portrayed as uncivilised and crude whereas sexual images of the goddess in Sanskrit slokas are highly praised for its poetic quality. Such upper-class agendas produce instances where Kodungalloor Bharani is mocked for its "contents". If one views the participants of the festival, one can observe that most of them are poor farmers and daily wage workers. They organise and revel in these rituals to forget their worries, get redemption from their sins and start their life with a new and blessed beginning. They bow down before the goddess with utter reverence and veneration. Upper caste returns them contempt, scorn and disparagement. Another fact that deserves our attention is the participation of the transgender community. The remarkable respect towards such figures on that particular day erases the boundaries and limits of such a conservative society like Kerala for at least few hours.

       Using slurs and abuse in festivities are not new to the Indian traditions. There is a ritual in Tirupati called ' Gangamma Jatara ', where a Hindu man dressed up as a woman (called Kaikalas) spontaneously emerge from a crowd and abuses a random person with foul and abusive language. He accepts the retaliation of foul words back from the person he insulted with bowed head and folded hands as well.

"According to mythology, when a Palegadu (local chieftain) outraged the modesty of a woman, Gangamma vowed to kill him, following which the scared Palegadu went underground. Gangamma went to town in various guises, shouting obscenities to provoke him. Finally, she spotted him one day and killed him, which is observed on the final day of the nine-day festival. The general belief among the devotees is that the use of abuses will satisfy the Goddess and thus she bestows her blessings on them." (A.D Rangarajan, 2013)

       Some of the inculcation of foul language into festivities is purposeful like the case of Chatrapati melas in Maratha community. By employing indecent language and mocking the morality of Brahmin women, they assert the power of non-Brahmin activists. Kodungalloor Bharani, on the other hand, employs the foul language to praise the female deity yet still asserts the power of non-Brahmin communities. Some invites wrath from upper caste sections whereas some merge with the ongoing performance. Such a variety of rituals in India makes it a vibrant country. The major issue the festivities face these days are the social regulation and improper archiving and documenting structure. Many people show no interest in collecting and recording the songs and rituals of such strange festivities.

       It’s essential we preserve whatever traditions we have. If spaces provided by such festivities open up celebratory events for all sections of society then the necessity of such preservation increases. It's not pseudo-morality that should govern and decide what should be performed and what shouldn't; how must one pray and how one mustn't. Its such occasions that allow mingling of people from all walks of life that enables walls between them to crash as well.

Bibliography

·         Gentes, M.J. (1992). "Scandalizing the Goddess at Kodungallur." Asian Folklore Studies 51 (2): 295-322. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1178336. Nov 22, 2012.

·         Sadasivan, S. N. (2000). "Buddhism in kerala." A Social History of India. New Delhi: APH Pub. Corp. Print

·         Rangarajan A.D. "Tirupathi Jatara: licence to abuse." The Hindu [Andra Pradesh] 11 May 2013.Web

·         Radhakrishnana, Shwetha.”Sanitizing the Profane”.Sub/versions journal.Vol.1, Issue.1, (2013), 202- 234.

·         Induchoodan, V.T. 1969. The Secret Chamber: A Historical, Anthropological and Philosophical Study of the Kodungallur Temple. Thrissur: Cochin Devaswom Board.

·         Vadakayil, Ajit. “Kodungalloor Bharani”. Standard Blog. Capt. Ajit Vadakayil Blog. Blogspot, 22 March 2013. Web. 22 Nov 2015.

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[1] Vellichapadu – oracle who throws light on the will of the goddess while in a trance; he generally strikes his head with a sacred sword when he is in this state