Spirits and totems, their worship, divine possession, ritual dances and songs to venerate spirits - different regions of India, even different countries of the world boast of a huge repertoire of stories on these subjects. Hari Kumar’s Daiva explores the above in a small region called Tulunadu extending from Udupi in Karnataka to Kasaragod in Kerala in Southwest India, the land of his ancestors. There is no doubt the movie Kantara that popularized ‘Bhutakola’ in most Indian households is a big reason for my picking the book, with my experience of watching ‘Theyyam’ as a child in my maternal grandmother’s village in North Kerala being a bigger force.
With a clear disclaimer that the book is not
an academic treatise or a critical analysis, the author neither a practicing
expert nor a scholar on the subject, the first part of the book is dedicated to
understanding the pulse of Tulunadu - the myth behind the land's creation, the cultural practices, languages spoken in this verdant green, bountiful land. Keeping it simple to start with by defining
kola, the ritual dance used to express reverence to spirit deities (Satyolu)
and seek counsel from them ; paaddanas, a manifestation of the folk song genre
transmitted orally down generations, the author adds bulk defining myriad Tulu
terms like nema, daiva, bhuta (not Hindi term Bhoot meaning ghosts), nudi. He
explains a bhutakola in great detail- the attire, headgear, mask of the artist,
preparations before a kola commences, how it begins, progresses and ends etc.
The second part of the book compiles folklore
surrounding these spirit deities, stories of the immensely popular Panjruli
daiva, sibling deities - Kallurti and Kalkuda, valorous warrior spirits Koti
Chennaya, Pilichandi (the tiger spirit), Siri, the spirit for women, fierce
Guliga & more. For every spirit deity, the daiva araadhane or the kola is different and thanks to the world connected via web, there are videos of each bhutakola to enhance the understanding of the written word here. When we read the folktales of these spirit deities with minor variations due to the different local flavours, we see women getting married at the young age of 7 and several instances where caste practices strictly adhered to. Though these may invite the reader's contempt for the society being archaic and orthodox, just a little scratching beneath the superficial details will reveal how most of the venerated deities are women or lower caste folks who have risen above the oppression they faced.
Sharing some favourite lines from the book -
"Circumstances sometimes turn believers into
non-believers and non-believers into staunch believers. Let it be. In the end,
we truly do not know where we are heading. Not even the most commercial
spiritual leader can give you the right answer without hiding behind the veil
of faith. But what impresses me most about daiva aaradhane is the fact that
people, whether working in air-conditioned cubicles in top tech companies or
hustling in the humid lanes of faraway cities, every year, thousands of them
flock to their native places in Tulu Nadu to witness traditional jaatre, aarat,
kola, nema, etc. Such traditions have kept the otherwise divided society bound
by the ethereal thread of faith."
The author's passion, devotion and fascination for the subject is evident not only in the introduction where he discusses how the book happened but shines all along. Tighter editing and more structure in the contents would have enriched the reading experience. What may just seem like skimming the top layer of information for a Tuluva reader may be pretty cumbersome for a person who doesn't have a connect with the culture. Beauty lies in the eye of the beholder, it is said; how this book works varies for a believer & for a skeptic, but for both, it clearly has lots to offer.
