Puthiya Bhagavathi Theyyam

As mentioned in my previous video on YouTube  Theyyam is a ritual dance of God, and there are more than 500 forms of Theyyam being performed. In my previous video, I discussed goddess Dooliyar bhagavathi, she is the form of mother goddess aadi shakti, but in this article and video, I will discuss Puthiya bagavathi. 

Let’s talk about mother goddess Puthiya bagavathi! Puthiya Bhagavathi Theyyam is a Goddess which cures diseases. In ancient times diseases are considered as the anger of God. And in Theyyams there are Gods who cures diseases and who causes diseases. Among them, Puthiya Bhagavathy is a Goddess who cures diseases.

Chirumbanmar is Goddess who born from the Divine Third eye of Lord Shiva. Even though Lord shiva created Chirumbanmar to bring prosperity and happiness among people, Chirumbanmar started spreading diseases like Smallpox and all the humanity even (devatas) Gods and Goddesses started to get affected by diseases like an epidemic. With the request of other Gods, Mahadeva conducted a ‘Homa’ and from the fire of the ‘homa’ on the 41 day, Puthiya Bhagavathy was born. And Shiva ordered her to cure all the diseases and he also sends 6 children (somewhere it is also mentioned that Puthiya Bhagwati was unmarried and she assisted her 6 brothers) for helping her. Devatas also offered fresh hen’s blood to Bhagavthy to quench her thirst.

She first cured the disease of Devas and the went to earth to cure the disease of the people. on the earth, she had to fight with an Asura named Kerthya Veera and in that battle, she lost all her 6 children. The angry Goddess burned the Asura in fire and also burned the vilvapuram kotta and she left the place and started to destroy everything she saw on the way.

On her way she got a seat near to Mathothathu Veerarkali, She also got a seat in the moolacheri homes. Bhgavathy then came in the dreams of Kolathiri King. To commemorate the divine power of the deity the then Chieftain of Kalathnadu ‘Chirakkal Raja’ ordered to perform this Theyyam. The Puthiya Bhagavathy was happy and she protected the people from all diseases.

Disambiguation of the Sanskrit word Daivam meaning God, Theyyam is a form of ritual dance of North Kerala also known as the Malabar and its surrounding areas. The exact origin of Theyyam is not known but is said to be roughly two millennia old. The ancient Tamil Sangam literature (BC 500- CE 500) has a mention of Theyyam performances. It is considered to have been evolved from the way people expressed their emotions towards mother goddesses, village deities, forest spirits and forces of nature.

It is overwhelming and scary to see someone dance with his entire body surrounded by fire torches just inches away from the body with the flames doing a different dance fanned by the wind. A chicken is sacrificed to quench the thirst of the Goddess. The theyyakaran keeps circumambulating the symbolic homa placed in the middle with the headless chicken hanging out from her mouth. This sight can send a shiver down any spine!

Kindly watch the embedded video to know more about this ritual dance form! Also do not forget to subscribe to our channel!