[Reader-list] Fourth Post.

[Rajesh Komath]

Dear Friends,

Ooruvilakku or Banishment:

Ooruvilakku means denying a performer to perform in shrines. For example,
a performer named Padmanabhan Panicker, Kotakad, has revealed that he was
denied the right to performance because a ‘crime’ has imposed upon him. It
was alleged that he took more money from devotees without giving any share
of it to the shrine-authority. The charge against his brother was that, as
a performer he had behaved badly towards the shrine authority. Next year,
the shrine authority bargained with a performer and conducted a
performance. The misdemand charged against on the performer may not be
true, but it become evenful bane for enacting of his shrine authority to
bargain for the reduction of reward for the performance. Because of
competition within the community of Theyyam, they could easily exploit the
performers according to their will. And, in the case of many performers in
the Village of both Karivallur and Chirakal, they had the same problem.
They agreed to perform at the invitation of the Asia Games help in Delhi
in 1984 as these performers were going to perform outside the shrine where
they could perform freely without the element of casteism and on such an
occasion they receive an identity (pride) of being artists. Moreover, they
could get reasonable remuneration too. But, most of the performances
outside the shrine, mediated by intermediaries and take lion’s share. The
performers could receive only a small share. Intermediaries are people who
made contact with national and international Programme co-ordinators. This
is what is the new folk- art lovers are doing by exploiting these artists
while they arrange programmes on spaces different from the traditional.
This also resulted in the Ooruvilakku to those who went to perform
outside. Because of fear of Oruvillaku, many good performers are now not
at all willing to perform outside the shrine even if they get good
opportunity to perform. So, social mobility of the performer faces many
hurdles, and they experience these disadvantages from the society as well
as the community due to the psychological, cultural and traditional
attachment to the rituals.

[Sorry for late posting]


Rajesh Kumar.K.
Doctoral Scholar
Centre For Development Studies
Prasanth Nagar, Ulloor
Trivandrum- 695011
Kerala, India
Ph : +91-471-2442481
Fax: +91-471-2447137
Mobile: 9895056659.