Kannyar Kali

Kannyar Kali is a festival usually celebrated in March or April in many of the Kurumba Bhagavathy temples in the Palakkad district of Kerala, India. Some prominent ones are in Pallassena, Vadavannur, Tathamangalam, Kozhalmannam and Kannanore Puthucode. Coyalmannam and Puthucode are two neighboring villages nearly 10 and 7 kilometers from Palakkad on the Palakkad-Thrissur road. Legend has it that the Kannyar Kali in these two places used to be celebrated in Coyalmannam originally but at some point, the Coyalmannam celebrations did not wait for the arrival of the Puthucode participants and the Puthucode villagers brought the Pandal along with the pillars and stuff and established the stage for the celebrations in Puthucode village itself. Though this festival is essentially that of the Nair community, there is contributions and participations of all other communities also in these celebrations. The celebrations last for a fortnight, the final three days are the full night celebrations which consist of pooja, vela, caparisoned elephant accompanied processions and fire works and a number of staged dramatic events in which the life of various communities in the villages are depicted. These dramatic presentations are enlivened by rustic humour some times embellished with sexual innuendos. The local men both young and old all participate in these celebrations. The women are mostly kept out of these activities except as devotees engaged in worship or as spectators of these dramatic presentations.

Velichchappad or the Oracle

Velichchapad or oracle is an important entity in these celebrations and it is not unusual for the velichchappad to express the happiness or otherwise of the gods with the villagers. When the vellichchappad expresses his unhappiness or anger with the villagers for their lack of worship activities, additional poojas are conducted on the advise of the oracles pronunciations. It is presumed that the Bhagavathy or the Goddess enters the bodies of the vellichchappad and the pronouncements are those of the Bhagavathy and great reverence is given to fulfill the "kalpana" or the desires of the Bhagavathy.

Besides the above places, Puthiyankam and Nemmara are also famous for Kanyar Kali.fact|date=April 2008

The Art Form

A number of participants of these Kannyar Kali have exhibited this art form as part of the contingents of Kerala art forms in the Republic Day parade folk festival presentations in Delhi on January 26 of each year. There is strict regimen of kanniar kali folk art which are handed down for generations and learned by the young boys and men from elderly proponents called Asaans.All the learnings are handed down by practise only and no written records are kept of these contents and practise of art forms. There is gradual erosion of this rich art form as older generations wither away with out fully handing over all the lessons of this art form. If no attempts are made to capture these art forms in writing, there is every likelihood that this art form may die out in due course.

External links

* [http://kanniyaarkali.blogspot.com/ Kanniyaar Kali-A Blog]
* [http://bp0.blogger.com/_pPLZpYqWVgY/SIMlGxvcm7I/AAAAAAAAACA/fUXAmp_rADI/s1600-h/13.jpgAn article related to Kanniyaar Kali-1]
* [http://bp3.blogger.com/_pPLZpYqWVgY/SIMkahMEaJI/AAAAAAAAAB4/O7V7Fh6Nqvc/s1600-h/11.jpgAn article related to Kanniyaar Kali-2]
* [http://bp2.blogger.com/_pPLZpYqWVgY/SIMjFHRJY2I/AAAAAAAAABw/1zW7qQv-Gm0/s1600-h/1.jpgAn article related to Kanniyaar Kali-3]
* [http://gallery.world-click.com/v/TattamangalamKanyakaliPorattuKali1992/ Kanyar - Porrattu Kali Photos of 1992]
* [http://tattamangalam.bizhat.com/souhrida2005May/ Kanyar - Porrattu Kali Photos Part 2]
* [http://in.geocities.com/dotcompals/kambam-140903/index.htm Sree Kurumbakavu Tattamangalam (Kambam Naattal)]
* [http://kerala.world-click.com/nightvisiongallery/ Sree Kurumbakavu Night Visions ]
* [http://www.tattamangalam.com/photographs.html Photo Gallery ]
* [http://us.geocities.com/dotcompals/down-memory-lane/kali-sku-1966.jpgOld (1966) Kanyar Kali Announcement]

*Velichappadu - the revealer of light [http://www.keralatourism.org/index.php?zone=4&source=pictu&pictid=24]

*Velichappadu [http://www.keralatourism.org/index.php?zone=4&source=video&videoid=1]