www.ijcrt.org © 2021 IJCRT | Volume 9, Issue 4 April 2021 | ISSN: 2320-2882
IJCRT2104009 International Journal of Creative Research Thoughts (IJCRT) www.ijcrt.org 61
TEYYAM CULT IN FUNERAL RITUAL:
KOOLIYATTAM OF THE KARIMPALANS
Dr.Manjula Poyil
Assistant Professor & Head, Department of History,
Kannur University, Mangattuparamba Campus, Kerala, India, 670 567
Abstract
The tribal practice of sending away the spirits of the dead permanently to their abode in the other world, a
few days after the burial, represents the final stage of a long chain of funeral rites. Since tribal religion
mainly revolves around the concept of ancestor worship, and ancestor worship is a combination of beliefs
and practices concerned with the spirit of the dead, funeral ceremonies acquire special significance.
Keywords :-Karimpalan ; Kooliyattam; Teyyam; Last Rite; Ancestor ; Adiyantharam
Tribal funeral consist of various kinds of burial rituals and after-burial i.e. last rites.
1
Tribes all over
the world use different terms to remark the last rite
2
. The most common name used by the tribes of Malabar
to denote it is Adiyanthiram or Koottathil Koottal. Until this ritual, the dead man’s spirit is not at rest, and
death pollution is not supposed to end. A typical tribal last rite is marked by the cheerful sending away of the
soul of the dead to the world of the ancestors through offerings, sacrifices, music, dance and grand feasts.
But in the context of the advancing process of acculturation many tribes have inculcated sanskritic elements
into the tribal pantheon. Against this background, the present paper examines the last rite of the Karimpalan
tribe of North Kerala which is unique for the appropriation of the non-tribal teyyam cult into the tribal
ancestor-worshipping system.
3