Socio-cultural Processes and Livelihood Patterns at Tirurangadi - CDS

kolkali gurukkal in the area. Now kolkali is surviving as a stage art rather than a martial
dance, and the generation of professional kolkali players is fast disappearing. Duff Mutt,
another mappila art form has not been traditionally popular in the area, and is now
another stage item. There are several standard mappilapattu singers in the area, and also
very good composers. They could even convert contemporary events in the traditional
lyrical form, for example in the forms of song called chinth and kessupattu. The tradition
of Islamic songs in honour of religious heroes, called mala seem to have continued to the
present, as in the composition named kudrat mala.
Thottam singing in kavus is another traditional ritual art form. Each bhagavathi has her
specific thottams sung for her, and they are the prerogative of specific families. The
rituals in a kavu owned by urakath house in Kundoor was discontinued, because the
perumannan who could sing the thottam had died and no one in the family could sing it.
Kaliyattakkavu has several songs and thottam and the perumannans and the cherumans
could sing them. Pattulsavam which involves the thottam singing is major ritual in all the
kavus. When agriculture was flourishing singing during the time of sowing (Nateel pattu)
and reaping (Koythupattu) were popular. It has not totally disappeared, and we could
actually watch and hear the nateel pattu of women on the way from Thayyilakkadavu to
Pappannur. Of course, the younger generation were less familiar with these songs.
Older generation could remember the practice of oppana singing and dancing for
marriages, but we could not meet any actual singer. Like all other forms of art, the
younger generation could identify oppana only as a stage item in youth festivals. There
was no tradition of performing stage plays, and hence we could not meet any stage actor
of the older generation. Public performances were apparently of the ritual kind, as, for
example, there was no dearth in the number of people who had become komarams,
particularly from the perumannan and Thiyya castes.