I must also confess that I am not a subject matter expert, but I can sure share my cherished memories. As I said earlier there is no literature about this art form hence I can share what I was told and what I had witnessed.
These rituals are normally held at the ancestral homes of a family. Each ancestral home houses the costume and weapons of the demi god of that respective ancestral home. The property of the god is well taken care off by the family members all year round. All family members across generations once an year pool to set up a fund to arrange for this ceremony. Its held so that family members can share their grievance to the lord and get solution from his/her holiness. It is also done to please the god and get to hear what he/she has to say to the family. So this ritual is the opportunity where the spirit of the demi god is invited into a human body and this Oracle becomes the bridge from the human world to the divine world.
There is no one common demi god; an unique demi god for each ancestral home is believed to take care of her children (all members of the family).
Offerings are made in produce and flesh. Each family bring their produce and poultry for few of the selective demi goods to be offered as sacrifice to prepare an elaborate meal for everyone in the village.
There is no invite list for such a ritual. All members of the family are required if they want to avoid the wrath of their mother Godess; villages also come around to pick up some spare blessings.
Normally in a ritual like this a single demi god is not summoned, a lord superior is also summoned who is a general lord for all people. You may say the manager god of the demi god. All gods do not behave the same.They have a distinct character associated with them and this goes for their elaborate costume as well. We have a very vocal and serious god (vishnu murthy),a comical god (kulliyan),agressive godess (chamundi) and and passive god and so on. Their nature of conversation and the tone makes a sea of difference even to the blind who are not able to visually make out the difference in the costumes and facial expression.
The Oracle (person in which the spirit of the lord resides temporarily) has a lot of preparation before he is willing to summon the lord into himself. It all begins the previous night where the team gather up and start preparing the costumes. These costumes are made from the tender top leaves of the coconut tree, threads from the plantain etc. The bright colours for the make up are all ingredients offered by nature. While the team works on the costume, a priest will prepare the sanctum where the performance will take place. This involves laying out the gear(chest plate) and weapons of the demi god.
Once the stage is set, the performer enters assisted by his team mates to the sanctum.The priest recites prayers while the performer meditates to enter into a trance like situation. His loud anklets build the tension as he shakes his legs and arms in frenzy. His team mates attend to the drums and clappers where the sound ambience is set. Pensive mood sets in the crowd gathered around in eagerness to witness a divine event of their beloved lord making an appearance via this human form.
Eventually the Oracle's expression says it all that he has been possessed. His dance begins to match the rhythm of the drum finally to break out with a language that is ancient. His words, expressions and vibrant movement clearly show that he is not himself any more.
Some of these Oracle do things that is out of the ordinary. For example run and fall into burning mound of charcoal. So reluctant to get off that he has to be pulled off from the amber glowing heap. I have once witnessed a demi god run fast and jump into a dried up well only to be pulled up by the villagers.
Nor are they hurt, Tired or back to normalcy. When possessed the oracle posses stamina that is super human. With the head gear weighing as much as themselves they go about dancing, chanting, singing and running for hours on end. Most of the time the oracle takes up chest plate of the gods that are made of brass and weaponry which is far from feather light. The performance normally ends with the oracle loosing conciousness or being helped by his assistants when he collapses.
During the limited time of his divine state members of the ancestral home approach him with grievances affecting them seeking for a possible solution. Some times the oracle himself speaks of incidents that are so secretive with only one person being aware of it. These are the moments when a non believer turns in. The god then speaks of any dissatisfaction he/she has had with the prayer offerings to him and suggests corrective measure. Most of the time a devotee who takes up the responsibility of fixing as per the guidelines of his holiness end up with satisfaction and his issues gone. Its a taboo to mock at the lords as they get easily upset and their wrath is not what is within tolerable limits. I have witnessed kids from cities who mocked only to face his anger and an year later they had to come back from Mumbai only to conduct this whole ceremony again to apologies and ask for forgiveness. No less torture of the unexplained kind would drive a family to part with such huge expense and laborious long journey.
One notable aspect that astounds me but at the same time annoys me is the sect of people who are only allowed to perform the ritual or play the drums are of the lower caste in the society. Shamefully called as untouchable class. I am perplexed by the fact that people of this so called lower caste are given the privilege of being the gods of the upper class and for that short duration when they perform they get all the respect!! This caste system is one aspect that I am ashamed off in our culture.
The irony of the situation of me writing the blog is I had paused midway for an hour to watch the live telecast of the launch of the Juno space probe which will rendezvous Jupiter 5 years from now. Its the largest deep space probe ever to be launched.
I as an avid science enthusiast who digs deep into the cause of every single occurrence in nature.Naturally I am supposed to find it hard to buy into the belief or superstition. But the truth is I think I have found the thin line which divides these two worlds and I am glad to be on the fence and look both ways and appreciate the true beauty what god has offered me to witness in this tiny lifetime of mine. On one side of the fence trillions are spent to find answers and yet not all have been answered on the other side far lesser has been spent in blind belief and not all answers are there yet. Folks on both grounds in an eternal 'Pursuit of Peace'. As far as my agenda for this insignificant life of mine is to try my best to preserve this rich art form for the next generation, wishing for the miracles of science and blessings of the lords to empower me.
For more pictures: http://goo.gl/rB3sc
