Sphoorthi Theatre

 It was a great opportunity to watch the live performance of Theyyam in God's own land-Kerala State along with other Research scholars from around the world during the Centre for Performance Research and Cultural Studies in South Asia-C PRACSIS International conference ‘Body, Space, and Technology in Performance’ organized by D r. C.S Biju at Trissur, Kerala in 2010. ‘Theyyam’ is a famous ritual art form that originated in North Kerala and brings to life the great stories of our State. It encompasses dance, mime, and music. It exalts the beliefs of the ancient tribals who gave a lot of importance to the worship of heroes and the spirits of their ancestors.   The term Theyyam is a distorted form of 'Dhaivam' or God. It is a rare combination of dance and music and reflects important features of a tribal cultural dance as a whole. This folk dance is believed to be a divine expression and the local residents of Kerala invoke the blessings of God through this dance form. This...

  There are beliefs, rituals, observations, and celebrations to thank “MOTHER EARTH”. As traditionally, there used to two-three crops grown by the farmers who largely depend upon nature for yielding bountiful crops. Mother Earth –the soil, Rain-the Water, Light-The Sun, Nutrients, and the microbes-the tiny worms, insects, snakes, bullocks, wind, and nature in total. There are multiple occasions when this “Thanks Giving” is celebrated and observed. Again, it varies from region to region, season to season, and culture to culture. One such is “Yellu Amavasya”, also known as “Ellamavasya”, which is observed on the no moon day in the Margashirsh month (November – December) in Karnataka and parts of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana States of India. “Ellu” means Sesame or Til and Amavasya is the New Moon Day or No Moon Day”. An important ceremony on the Yellu Amavasya day is the spraying of sesame and jaggery in agricultural lands. Even today the organic spray mix contains sesame, jaggery, cow...