Sun, Sand and Strangeness

We headed down to the bus station early morning (well around 7.30) to get some grub at the tasty dosa place we had eaten in the day previous. After the preceding day’s bus confusion we were certain that we would be on our way today as this bus actually started its journey in Mysore. So we waited, and waited and waited some more. For some reason that we cannot fathom the bus was actually late! Maybe the driver was busy drinking chai and smoking beedies. Anyway, we jumped on and wedged ourselves into a seat along with our bags. The journey from Mysore to Kannur itself was generally picturesque, and we passed through some interesting areas. One such area was a huge TATA coffee plantation, where all the plants were in flower which filled our nostrils with a heavenly scent. The latter part of the journey was probably the bumpiest bus journey you would ever want or not want to take. It was quite entertaining to be honest and we held tight for a good couple of hours as the bus veered, swerved and tilted its way round and down from the hills to the coast.
We had a rough idea what we wanted to do in Kannur (lie on a beach, relax and also see a traditional ritual called Theyyam), but we were not sure of our options so we headed straight for the tourist information office. They were very helpful and talked us through the areas that we could stay and the things we could do. Ken (our Japanese friend) had told us of a beach at Adikadalayi, so when the tourist guy told us of KK Heritage which was based right by the beach there, we said that we would give it a go. Shriranj, the owner of KK Heritage, came to pick us up. We had a little laugh on the way as he sarcastically referred to the bus route we had taken as a “lovely bus ride”.
The places to stay here are set up as home stays. In this instance, a home stay meant that accommodation and food were included within the daily price. There is another home stay on the same beach which is better known (it's in the guide book), called Costa Malabari, but it is extremely expensive and its location is pretty damn poor in comparison. We were well pleased to have a much better location, closer to the beach and our own little chalet with an outside sitting area for half the price of the Costa place. For anyone looking to go to Kannur, do not pre book anything. We heard that when booking the Costa they make you commit to booking and pre paying for three days which is a con to say the least!! Anyway, we had a warm welcome and great surroundings.

We headed straight for the beach of course.


We spent about a week in Kannur. Our main reason for coming was to see the Theyyam and we planned on seeing a few, but for a couple of reasons things stalled a little and we only managed to see one (there are around 450 different types of Theyyam) and chill on the beach.

The Theyyam is a ritualistic art form that is said to pre-date Hinduism. It is basically a religious trance like performance carried out by an individual who has prepared for the ritual with a period of fasting, abstinence and meditation. The individual also goes through a lengthy make up and costume session in order to look the part (the part being that of a deity). During the performance the performer goes into a trance and takes the form of the chosen deity. He basically becomes possessed. The devotees at the Theyyam are then blessed by the erm....’god’. Instead of trying to explain the full, factual ups and downs of it all, I shall just talk you through what we witnessed.
We arrived at the costume and make up stage of the ritual. We watched as the guy, with the aid of another man, painted himself in the necessary colours of the chosen deity....

...put on the necessary head gear of the chosen deity....

And then the final touches that result in him looking like some sort of cartoon character (seeing those big white lip things move when he talked is quite comical).

Once he is all kitted (or Godded) out the drums begin to bang (very, very loudly) and the ceremony begins......

It’s difficult really to describe what happens without actually being there. It involves lots of dancing around and LOTS OF LOUD DRUMMING which creates quite an atmosphere as it builds and builds. You could perhaps understand that if a deity were to manifest itself in human form this might be the environment in which it would choose to do so. It gets quite intense (and did I mention LOUD?!).

This all last about 15 or 20 minutes, with lots of twirling around, water and rice scattering and all the other stuff that goes along with this kind of thing like: lots of burning oil lamps, a sword that did the rounds with a twirling dancing man (who seemed to manage to prance around the place with his eyes closed without knocking into a single thing), coconuts, (they use coconut in everything here), banana leaves, toddy (alcohol made from coconuts) etc, etc. During the ceremony the men devotees are given offerings and there seemed to be a growing queue of women to one side, some with children.

They all waited patiently until the twirling, prancing and drum banging had finished and the deity sat in the middle of the area. After the men had got yet another offering the women then got to address the deity and get a blessing.
As the deity sat on the chair, each woman would talk briefly (maybe ask for a good son in law or whatever) to the deity and then he would bless them, his language and words pouring from his mouth in an unbelievable quick fashion.

The Theyyam is yet another interesting and quite fanciful religious ceremony to witness. I’m going to refrain from giving my full personal view on this type of ceremony out of respect, but I do and have found it interesting to see what other men on earth believe in.

As mentioned previously, we didn’t really get up to much here. One early morning we ventured out into the lagoon behind the home stay for a little bird watching which was pleasant enough.


The remainder of our time was spent on the beach or relaxing in our chalet. The beach itself was very quite indeed and it’s a great place to unwind. The food we were served by Shriranj was fantastic and Dipi got some recipes off him so she can cook up a south Indian storm sometime.