Ruminations of travels, journeys, and wanderlust across Gaia!
When personifying the goddesses as Theyyams, it is still the menfolk that perform the ritualistic dance. They invoke the Divine Feminine energies and dress as the goddesses to bring the stories to life. This mid-day performance was special as we had a chance to witness the makeup and dressing up of the Theyyam. The face…
This Theyyam was another night-time ritual that involved a play with fire, albeit without jumping into the flames. Dressed in the traditional colours of the performance and a headgear that enhanced the presence, this Theyyam started with cooing and talking to the stack of fire in the middle of the grove, to the steady beat…
This was the only Theyyam that did not have the traditional colours of red, orange and black, but was covered in white, almost the colour of ash. Stripes of black lines ran through his bare body and he wore a waist adornment made of nimble palm strands. His eyes were covered in patches of black…
This was my 1st brush of the Theyyam performance in the dead of the night, which included spectacular dance rituals around and within leaping flames of fire. This is one of the most famous and sought-after performances and for good measure. After an elaborate dance on the legend of the deity and depicting its fury…
The December air is sticky with perspiration, as mosquitoes buzz around and fly into our faces, like little drunks who have lost the way, in the thick vegetation on either side of the narrow mud road we are traversing on. A numb thumping of the drums in the distance breaks through the 2 a.m. darkness…
On a chilly, drizzly monsoon morning, taking a stroll along the Lily Pond at Lalbagh in Bangalore I chanced upon this magnificent creature - a Blue Waterhen - who was busy foraging for food and I was all but awestruck at its brilliant display of colours.
On the outskirts of Bangalore, sits a complex of shrines dating back to the early 9th century. This temple with its distinct Dravidian style of architecture is said to have been constructed by the Nolamba and Rashtrakuta dynasties. Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) classifies this complex dedicated to Lord Shiva as one of the oldest…
