Bà «ta Kà Âlà(Tulu: Bhà «ta Kà Âla), also referred to as Bhà «ta Kolam, Daiva Kà Âlàor Daiva NÃÂmÃÂ, is a Hindu folk dance performance practised, believed and protected by the Tuluvas of Tulu Nadu and parts of Malenadu of Karnataka and Kasargod in northern Kerala, India. The dance is highly stylised and performed as part of "Bhootaradhane" or "Bhootharadhanam" or worship of the local deities of the Tulu-speaking population in South India. It has influenced Yakshagana folk theatre. Bà «ta kà Âlàis closely related to Theyyam of North Malabar region and some parts of Karnataka. Theyyam is an evolved form of Bà «ta Kà Âla. Theyyam, in turn, shares similarities with a similar Hindu folk dance called Thirayattam.
It involves extended chanting of mantras and ceremonial preparations that typically span 8 to 10 hours. The ritual culminates with the placement of the mudi (sacred headgear) on the performer, a moment believed to mark the entry of the deity into the performerâÂÂs body. As part of the process, the performer consumes madhyam (toddy), which is believed to suppress the person's consciousness, allowing the divine consciousness of the deva to manifest. This practice aligns with philosophical concepts found in Hindu texts such as the Yoga Vasistha, which describe how divine entities (devatas) can enter the human body, parakÃÂya praveà Âanam at a Paramanu level. Hinduism traditionally recognises a multiplicity of devatas, often cited as 33 koti devatas along with the trinity Brahma, Vishnu, and Maheshwara and with the idea of Brahman, the highest universal principle.
Koragajja is the most worshipped Daiva (Spirit) by the Tulu people and is prayed to for help in solving any problem, to get back something lost, or to get any work done on time.
A boar spirit that is worshipped to ward off the menace of wild boars in order to protect the crops. According to Tulu regional belief, a wild boar died in the Hindu god Shiva's celestial garden in Mount Kailash. The boar's offspring was adopted by Shiva's wife, the goddess Parvati. The young boar became aggressive as he grew older and began destroying the plants and trees in Shiva's garden. Shiva became upset and decided to kill him. Parvati, being considered as the mother of all animate and inanimate things, however, defended the boar and asked her husband to pardon him. So instead of killing him, Shiva banished the boar to Earth as his gana and granted him the status of a protector god, revered by humans. This particular boar became a Bhoota (Divine Spirit) known as Panjurli. But some people syncretise Panjurli with Varaha, the boar incarnation of the god Vishnu, since the two deities are boars. He is also considered as a part of Shiva because of which he is also known as Shiva Shambhootha. Panjurli Daiva is also one of the earliest daivas who is worshipped all over Tulu Nadu. His earliest worship dates back to 700 BCE-800 BCE along with Bermer Daiva (Brahma). The idea behind the worship of Panjurli is that wild boars destroyed crops and thus, farmers started worshipping a boar god who was known as Panjurli and in return, they believe that Panjurli protects the crops.
This God of the seas is worshipped mostly by members of the fishing community.
They are Daivas who are brother and sister. According to legend, Kalkuda was a great sculptor who built the Gommateshwara (Bahubali) Statue in Karkala. After he completed building beautiful temples and monumental statues, the ruler of Karkala cut off his left arm and right leg so that he could not create such beautiful sculptures for any other king. On seeing her brother's state, Kallurti vowed to take revenge and requested Shiva to turn them into deities. Shiva agreed and the pair then took violent revenge on the king, his family, and his kingdom. Their destruction was only stopped when a master magician promised them that they would be worshipped as and how they wanted.
Guliga or 'Guligan', also known as 'Gulige', is the most commonly worshipped Daiva, particularly by the Tuluvas. As per legend, Guliga is a goblin born out of a stone. Goddess Parvati discovered this stone in a pile of ash. Guliga was created when Shiva flung this ash into the water and was sent to Vishnu after his birth so that he may serve him. Guliga has extreme hunger, which never ends; he even has the power to swallow the Earth.
However, Guliga was extremely aggressive, and this greatly annoyed Vishnu. Vishnu exiled Guliga to Earth as a result and tasked him with protecting the people on Earth.
Even on Earth, his ferocity and hunger caused disturbance. Lord Vishnu appeared once more and understood that only divine energy could calm him. He offered the tip of his little finger to Guliga. When Guliga bit it, divine peace flowed through him for the first time. His anger calmed, and he agreed to be the protector god of the humans. It has been foretold by Panjurli that anyone who persecutes humans and spreads evil will be killed by Guliga.
Koti and Chennayya are twin heroes who are worshipped as martial gods.
The word is derived from bà «ta / bhootha (Tulu for âÂÂspiritâÂÂ, âÂÂdeityâÂÂ; in turn derived from Sanskrit à ¤Âà ¥Âà ¤¤ for âÂÂfree elementsâÂÂ, 'which is purified', 'fit', 'proper', âÂÂtrueâÂÂ, 'past', 'creatures'; Anglicized: âÂÂbhà «taâÂÂ, âÂÂbhootaâÂÂ, âÂÂboothaâÂÂ) and kà Âla (Tulu for âÂÂplay, performance, festivalâÂÂ, or 'shape/form').
A bhà «ta kà Âlàor nÃÂmàis typically an annual ritual performance where local spirits or deities (bhà «tas, daivas) are being channelised by ritual specialists from certain communities among the Tribe such as the Nalike, Pambada, or Parawa communities. The bhà «ta cult is prevalent among the Tuluvas of Tulu Nadu region. The word kà Âla is conventionally reserved for the worship of a single spirit whereas a nÃÂma involves the channelising of several spirits in hierarchical order. In kà Âlas and nÃÂmas family and village disputes are referred to the spirit for mediation and adjudication. In feudal times, the justice aspect of the ritual included matters of political justice, such as the legitimation of political authority, as well as aspects of distributive justice. The produce of land directly owned by the bà «ta (commons) as well as certain contributions from the leading manors was redistributed among the villagers.
The history of Bhuta Kola is unknown but some scholars suppose that this tradition probably originated during 700 BCE by the migration of early Tulu tribes introducing the worship of Bermer (Brahma), Panjurli (the boar spirit) and other spirits although Bhuta Kola is a modified form of prehistoric religious rituals. The earliest inscription of Bhuta Kola was from 14th century from Barkuru, which mentions an individual bhuta named Kundodara who demands a sacrifice from a king who wants to deport his ship in sea.
The Bhà «ta worship of South Canara is of four kinds, kà Âla, bandi, nÃÂma, and agelu-tambila.
The ritual performance at a bà «ta kà Âla or daiva nÃÂma involves music, dance, recital, and elaborate costumes. Recitals in Old Tulu recount the origins of the deity and tell the story of how it came to the present location. These epics are known as pÃÂá¸Âdanas.
The best-known deities are:
The Bhootas are supposed to belong to different castes. For example,
are Jains,
are Bunts,
Some of them are ancestral spirits such as:
Some are deified wild animals such as:
Some bootas are Androgynous, such as some instances of Jumadi, who is represented as female below the neck (with breasts, etc.), but with a male head sporting a moustache. There are anthropomorphic bootas, zoomorphic ones, and mixed forms (such as Malaraaya of Kodlamogaru, Kasargod, who has the head of a wild boar and the body of a woman).
Depending on the significance of the people who worship them, ' or ' can be:
According to the ethnographer Peter Claus, the Tulu ' reveal a cosmology which is distinctly Dravidian and thus different from the Puranic Hindu cosmology. Importantly, priesthood is not the preserve of a caste learned in scriptures but is shared between the ruling aristocracy on one hand and ritual specialists from the lower strata of society on the other hand. The world is divided into three realms: firstly, the realm of cultivated lands (), secondly the realm of wastelands and forests (/), and thirdly the realm of spirits (). GrÃÂmya and / form part of the tangible world, whereas is their intangible counterpart. As grÃÂmya is constantly threatened by encroachment, disease, hunger and death from and , so is the tangible world under constant threat from the intangible world of the spirits. The world of the forest is the "world of the wild, unordered, uncontrolled, hungry beings of destruction".
The world of the forest and the world of the spirits are therefore seen as mirror images of each other. The wild animals threatening the human cultivator and his fields such as the tiger, the snake, the wild-boar, and the gaur, find their mirror images in their corresponding bà «tas Pilli, Naga, Paà Âjurli and Maisandaya.
The relationship between these three worlds is one of balance and moral order. If this order is upset by the humans, it is believed that the spirits become vicious. If the order is maintained, the spirits are believed to be supportive and benevolent. Thus, the spirits of Tulu culture are neither "good" nor "bad" as such; they are "neither cruel nor capricious. They methodically and persistently remind a lax humanity of the need for morality and the value of solidarity". Nobody is believed to be above the moral and cosmological norms of this threefold universe, not even the spirits or the gods. Thus the bà «tas are not whimsical or arbitrary in their judgement. The bà «tas are their patron's protectors with regard to a system of moral norms, not despite them.
Feudal relations of tribute and fealty mark the relations among the humans in the tangible world, among spirits in the intangible world and between humans and spirits across tangible and intangible worlds. While the world of humans is ruled by a mortal king, the world of the spirits is ruled by Bermeru, the lord of the forest and of the bà «tas. And just as the landed aristocracy depended on protection and support from their king, the world of humans depends on protection and support from the spirits. Thus once in a year at the time of kà Âla or nÃÂma, the lord of the human world (patriarch, landlord, king) has to be reconfirmed in his authority by reporting to the spirit to which he is accountable. While the temporal lord's authority is dependent on the spirit; the authority of the spirit is guaranteed by the active participation of the villagers in the ritual. Thereby a certain degree of political legitimacy is upheld by the active participation of the villagers. Their withdrawal from the ritual can seriously affect the authority of the landlord.
As Claus observes, the principal mediators in this network of feudal transactions are communities who once upon a time may have led a liminal life between and /. Tribal communities living in and off the forest and trading in forest products were predestined to serve as spirit impersonators as their life world, the forest, is only the tangible side of the world of the spirits. In pursuit of their livelihood they regularly transgress structural boundaries between village and forest. They live on the margins of the village, in the wasteland between forest and field, thus they are themselves, in a sense, liminal. That such liminal people should be mediums for the spirits seems entirely apt. Today communities like Nalike, Parava or Pambada who impersonate different kinds of ' and ' can no longer be characterised as tribal. They are mostly landless agricultural labourers in the wet season and spirit impersonators in the dry season.
Today feudal relations no longer obtain and thus former ruling families no longer hold any political or judicial office. But still the village demands that they sponsor their annual kà Âla or nÃÂma to honour the village deity. The people believe that the neglect of the spirits will make their life miserable. Even though they may have changed, bà «ta kà Âla and daiva nÃÂma still serve secular as well as religious purposes. In fact the two cannot be separated in a world where the tangible is suffused with the intangible. As the cosmology underlying the pÃÂá¸Âdanas suggests, the very order of the human world and the order of the spirit world are interdependent.
Bà «tas and daivas are not worshipped on a daily basis like mainstream Hindu gods. Their worship is restricted to annual ritual festivals, though daily pà «jÃÂs may be conducted for the ritual objects, ornaments, and other paraphernalia of the bà «ta. Unlike with the better-known Hindu gods of the purÃÂá¹Âic variety, bà «ta worship is congregational.
The secular function of the kà Âla or nÃÂma has been described as a "sacred court of justice" where traditional (feudal) moral ideals are brought to bear on difficult real-life situations. Bà «ta kà Âlas and daiva nÃÂmas are assemblies of the entire village. Thus they become an occasion to resolve conflicts in the village. The royal daiva (rÃÂjan-daiva) rules over a former small kingdom or large feudal estate. He or she is mostly the family deity of rich land-owning patrons of the Baá¹Âá¹ caste whose position and power they reflect, confirm and renew. The relationship between the bà «tas, manor heads, and the villagers forms a transactional network which reaffirms the caste hierarchy and power relations in a village. The duty assigned to every category is differential but based on mutuality. The manor head by staging the nÃÂma seeks to symbolically proclaim himself to be the natural leader of the community.
The villagers offer sÃÂva during the nÃÂma in the form of service and prostrations and in doing so also offer their support to the nÃÂma and their recognition of the leader's status. In return, the villagers expect justice and resolution of disputes by the daiva during the nÃÂma. In the nÃÂma, the leading manors offer a part of their farm products to the daiva, which are then redistributed to the villagers. The nÃÂma thereby underlines the mutuality on which feudal relations used to be based and, in a limited way, takes care of the problem of social (distributive) justice. The bà «tas receive these offerings and in return give oracles and blessings to ensure the future prosperity of the village (humans, animals, fields). Finally, a part of these offerings will be distributed as prasÃÂda among the heads of the guá¹Âá¹Âus and other villagers according to their ranks. The system of entitlements is constituted in, or embodied by, the mutual gifting activity between the bà «tas, as the ultimate owner of the land, and people in rituals, creating a transactional network among them.
The script of the ritual changes from one nÃÂmàto another, thus the following description is somewhat ideal-typical. The ritual begins with the paraphernalia of the bà «ta being brought to the shrine which serves as a venue for the festival. They are placed on an altar or on a swinging cot, which is the insignium of a royal bà «ta (rajan-daiva). The Nalike, Parava or Pambada medium prepares for the impersonation of the spirit with a recital of from the pÃÂá¸Âdana of the bà «ta or daiva. After this, the medium starts putting on make-up and dressing up in his costume which may include an elaborate ani (a giant halo stringed to the back of the dancer). Finally, the medium is given the ornaments from the hoard of the shrine. As he enters the arena, the attendant of the spirit (pÃÂtri) gives him his sword, his bell and other paraphernalia and the patron (jajmÃÂn) gives him one or several burning torches. As the medium begins to dance, the spirit enters his body. Two people hold the torches along with the medium at all times. Thus, the entrance of spirit into this world is restrained. The medium's dance gains more force as the possession continues. He brings the torches dangerously close to his body. The jajmÃÂn now stands in a ritualistic circle on the ground with his assistants and offerings are made to the bà «ta. These offerings often include the sacrifice of a chicken whose blood is sprinkled on the ground to enhance the fertility of the land. These sacrificial acts are followed by offerings of puffed rice, beaten rice, coconut pieces, bananas, ghee, betel leaf, and areca nut. In the subsequent court of justice the spirit is approached by the villagers for blessings or asked to help resolve conflicts. The judicial program typically starts once the initial rituals are finished. Complaints and judgements are made orally. The bà «ta issues the judgement after hearing the sides of the plaintiff as well as the defendant, if both are present. The bà «ta's justice must be referrable to general principles. "He may take a stand, he cannot take sides". While the bà «ta may take the opinions of the village headman and other eminent persons into consideration, the ultimate judgement rests with the bà «ta. Sometimes judgements are also issued by the tossing of betel leaves and the counting of flower petals (usually areca flower). Particularly difficult cases may also be adjourned to the next year by the bà «ta. Some common disputes that come up are related to land issues, family feuds, questions of honour, robbery, debt, mortgage, breach of contract etc. In cases of theft where the offender is unknown, the bà «ta may ask for a certain offering before finding the thief. At times the victim offers the entire value of the stolen goods to the bà «ta. If the thief is found and penalised, the person is made to pay to the plaintiff a sum that is more than the value of the goods stolen. If the bà «ta feels that the thief shows repentance, the gravity of the penalty could be reduced.
The art of being a channel/medium is learned. Young boys belonging to the Pambada, Parava, Nalike castes attend rituals where their kin is performing; and they help out with shredding the coconut leaves for the garment of the channel/medium, holding the mirror while the channel/medium is putting on the make up etc. They learn the art of the performance by observing the performance of their kin and trying to mimic it. Along with being able to mimic the way their kin performed, what is essential to be a successful channel/medium is also the aptitude of being possessed by the deity. There are certain rules the channel/medium needs to follow to prepare his body for the possession. This may include being a vegetarian and not drinking alcohol. The channel/medium feels the sudden spirit possession only for a few seconds but after that he is filled with the deity's energy that lets him behave as the deity for the entire ritual.
There are two types of mediators between the spirits and the humans. The first type of mediator is known as the pÃÂtri. These are members of middle castes such as Billava (toddy tappers, formerly also bow-men). The second type of mediator ("channels/mediums") typically belong to scheduled castes such as Pambada, Parava or Nalike. While the pÃÂtri has only a sword and a bell as ritual tools, the channel/medium uses makeup, ornaments, masks etc. Both mediums are believed to channelise the deity from an altered state of consciousness. But while the channel/medium may speak as the bà «ta (in the first person) and about the bà «ta (in the third person, i.e. when he recounts his/her pÃÂá¸Âdana), the pÃÂtri only speaks as the bà «ta in the first person.
PÃÂá¸Âdanas are songs that form a major part of Tuluva oral literature. Much of the body of this literature has been built on the legends of the bà «tas and daivas. PÃÂá¸Âdanas have numerous variations for the same narrative. As in other epic traditions, there is no single author. PÃÂá¸Âdanas are orally transmitted and recited. The language of the pÃÂá¸Âdanas is old Tulu. Some famous examples are the Siri-Kumar PÃÂá¸Âdanas and the Koti and Chennayya PÃÂá¸Âdanas. The pÃÂá¸Âdanas sung by women while planting paddy are referred to as "field songs".
The pÃÂá¸Âdanas recite the origins of the spirits and deities. This is one way for the rituals to reconstruct the past and render a legitimization to it. The singers act as the indigenous narrators of the history of the native land. The pÃÂá¸Âdanas also stand in opposition to the puranic, male based principles as they highlight the feminine principles of mother earth. The pÃÂá¸Âdanas also reflect multi-socio-cultural background shifts (for example, the move from Matrilineal system to Patrilineal system). The older sense of cosmology is retained through the pÃÂá¸Âdanas.