Socio-cultural Processes and Livelihood Patterns at Tirurangadi - CDS

possibly the sea could enter and worship there and offer clay figurines of dogs and other
animals to the deity. A large number of figurines were lying scattered around in the area.
The thara and manadapam of the kavu also have a number of figurines carved on to them.
Near Urakath house in kundoor-theyyala road, a few idols and pieces of an abandoned
kavu was discovered while digging a well. The idol believed to be that of bhagavathi has
been kept in the urakath house.
The religious spaces outlined above still remain significant in the daily life of the people
of the region. As mentioned above, a number of mosques have been constructed in recent
times, and a number of temples and kavus have been renovated or in the process of
renovation. Our walking showed that a few churches have also been built such as the
St.Joseph’s church, Orthodox Church and Marthoma church as well as the Chavara
cultural center all in the Thenhippalam Panchayat ( Chavara Centre is technically in
Chelembra Panchayat). There is an older Basel mission church in Parappanagadi. All
these together imply the existence of a sacred landscape which is fairly well-knit and able
to play a significant role in the daily life of the inhabitants of the area.
Secular Public Spaces
The public spaces are not purely religious ritual spaces alone. Market centers have been
the abodes of other forms of ‘secular’ public organizations, the evidence for which could
be seen everywhere in the field area. Apart from that there are a number of educational
and health institutions and also a number of cultural centers. The schools are probably the
most significant among them. There is very little evidence today of traditional learning
centers. There is some evidence that ezhuthupallis existed in areas like Thenhippalam and
Vallikkunnu. For example, the family named Modappilassery used to run an
Ezhuthuppalli in a place called Ankaparamba, which has grown into the present Lower
Primary school at Koyappa in Thenhippalam. Kalaritharas survive in some of the