Socio-cultural Processes and Livelihood Patterns at Tirurangadi - CDS

in the affairs of the kavu. Interestingly, no one could enter the muttam of the thara (which
has been surrounded by a wall and conceived as the ‘sanctum sanctorum) except the
priests belonging to various castes and even the uralan could enter the enclosed area only
once, during the day of the Kozhikkaliyattam. The historical and cultural implications of
the privileges in the kavu and the festival will be discussed later.
Another feature of the kavus is also important. We have seen the presence of Ganapathi
in Kaliyattakkavu. Ganapathi appears in a similar reclining position in other Bhagavathi
kavus also.Vettakkorumakan or Subrahmanyan, Sivan, Ayyappan or Sastha are
worshipped in other kavus worshipped or patronized by nayars and other savarna groups.
There is the practice of ‘bringing ‘deities from other places and installing them in the
local kavu. Thus kodungallur Devi has been installed in kavus of the thiyyas. In the
Ayyappankavu at Neduva, Bhagavathi of Nirakaithakotta has been ‘brought’ and
installed. The Mookambika shrine also in Neduva, patronized by the Parappanad
kovilakam, has Mookambika Bhagavathi installed there, brought by a member of the
Parappanad family, who went to the original Mookambika temple for Bhajanam. There
are also numerous ayyappankavus where Sastha is the deity. Thalappoli and Ezhunnallath
(ritual procession of the deity is practiced in several kavus. The distinction between such
practices and the practices of the pristine kavus is clear from kaliyattakkavu itself, where
thalappoli is the function of the nayars and other upper castes, and kuthirakettu is
performed by the lower castes, including the thiyyas. Nayars perform their functions in
the northern side of the temple and the other castes from the southern side. Significance
of this also may have to be examined later.
Mosques are the most frequent religious structures in the area, other than kavus. Since the
kavus because of their nature are not always visible, the visibility of the mosques is most
marked in the field area. There are two types of mosques; one the srambis or
niskarapallis, which are meant only for the purpose of prayer., and the second masjids,
where apart from prayer, other rituals and observances are conducted, and are provided