For a long time in history, religious performances and songs were studied and analyzed within the framework of theology alone. In Kerala, as Rajan Gurukkal put forward, religious performances and theaters were entertained inside or around the temple which always maintained the sacred decorum of the upper caste hegemony, and the temple itself represented a solid spectrum of caste structure in a full-fledged institutional form. For some time now, there has been a major shift in the way historians and litterateurs focus on performance studies, especially in the fledgling field of religious performances and emotions. At this juncture of emotional and conceptual histories, it becomes important to move beyond the idea of analyzing religious performances as rituals alone.
Koṭuṅṅallūr Bharaṇi (കൊടുങ്ങല്ലൂർ ഭരണി), also known as Mīna Bharaṇi (മീന ഭരണി), is a religious gathering/festival celebrated annually in Koṭuṅṅallūr, a historically significant town situated on the Malabar Coast in Thrissur district of Kerala in India. Consistently, in the mid-year long periods of March/April, Koṭuṅṅallūr is colored yellow with turmeric and silk, and Bharaṇi pāṭṭu (ഭരണി പാട്ട്) is echoed here and there due to the presence of the performers who gather at the Koṭuṅṅallūr Goddess Temple to praise the Bharaṇi celebration. An integral part of Koṭuṅṅallūr Bharaṇi is the singing of Bharaṇi Pāṭṭu which consists of two strands: Dēvi stōtraṁ (ദേവി സ്തൊത്രം ) and Teṟi Pāṭṭu (തെറി പാട്ട് ) While the Dēvi stōtraṁ consists of well-structured recitals essentially praising the kindness and glory of the goddess, Teṟi Pāṭṭu refers to ritual songs that are well-dovetailed with obscene and sexually impulsive words conveyed through self-mortification and singing to worship the Koṭuṅṅallūr Bhagavati (കൊടുങ്ങല്ലൂർ ഭഗവതി) or Goddess. These songs are sung with the use of instruments, mainly sticks and anklets with loud-violent voices. They are spontaneous and lack a proper structure, as they are created by performers according to the situation.
Caste plays a major role in the production and performance of rituals and art forms in Kerala, like in any other part of India. Taking Sheldon Pollock’s idea of Literary Culture, performances like Bharaṇi can be considered as a different genre which hasn’t been into academic discourse and needs to be under close scrutiny as the genre itself has created a language of its own, a performative method and a social and cultural (sonic and emotional) atmosphere for the production of this performance in South Asia. The sensibilities of emotion, body and sound through a culturally and socially rooted performance called Bharaṇi is popularly known as the festival of the lower caste/Avarna.
As noted by C.Adarsh in his article śarīrattinṟe āghoṣaṅṅaḷ: koṭuṅṅallūr bharaṇiye munnirtti cila cintakaḷ (ശരീരത്തിന്റെ ആഘോഷങ്ങൾ: കൊടുങ്ങല്ലൂർ ഭരണിയെ മുൻനിർത്തി ചില ചിന്തകൾ),Bharaṇi pāṭṭu or Teṟi pāṭṭu is a celebration of bodies where the performer creates a social situation in which gender discrimination is temporarily invisible or irrelevant within the public sphere of Koṭuṅṅallūr Kāv (കൊടുങ്ങല്ലൂർ കാവ്) with participation from men, women and transgender community. The intersection of caste, emotion and performance produces a space for resistance against the dominant upper caste behavioral codes, and the Bharaṇi Pāṭṭu, which appeared in the early modern and modern Kerala as a slur used for insulting people or communities, is moving towards the realm of popular culture and academic discourses.
Febint Thomas is an established photographer from Kerala who specializes on Emotions. Febint can be reached through tfebint90@gmail.com
