‘Vettekkaran Pattu’ – A ritualistic form of worship
Vettekkaran Pattu it is a typical ritual form of worship found among Hindus in certain parts of Kerala, India. What is interesting here is that the idol worshiped is a warrior, according to the story contained in the songs sung during various worship rituals. It represents the adventurous actions of a great tribal warrior, named Vettekkaranlived in the forest area, Nambumala kotta near Gudallur (currently on the border of India’s Kerala and Karnataka states), a long time ago. The forest was very dense and all kinds of wild animals were present there. Naturally, the members of the tribe that remained in the forest were attacked and killed, very often, by these animals.
Vettekkaran organized the tribal people and formed a group of soldiers to fight against these enemies. These volunteer soldiers were known as elagirivilli chekavar. They, under the leadership of Vettekkaran, hunted and killed animals in the entire forest area, covering almost all areas in Wynad, Kurumbanad, etc. He met with the kings and other chiefs of the area and held talks to resolve the threat. Balussery was chosen by him as his headquarters and he operated from there, providing protection to the people. According to traditional songs, Vettekkaran traveled to a place called Thrikkalangode, near Manjeri, in today’s Malappuram district of Kerala, and bathed in a pond called kutankulam and worshiped the Goddess of the nearby Valliyankavu temple. After completing these routine cults, he and his team hunted animals in the neighboring woods.
The innocent and ignorant tribals and others who lived on the fringes of the forests viewed Vettekkaran’s actions with reverence and regarded him as a hero. Even after his death they used to remember him and wish for his presence whenever they were in trouble. Various types of offerings were given to this hero to obtain comfort in his daily life. Over time, the hero acquired the status of God and worship became ritual.
Hindus now worship Vettakkaran, regardless of caste, not exactly as a hero, but as a Hindu god. Certain mythological stories have turned to this and the Deity is considered to be related to Lord Shiva, or Lord Shiva himself. In Mahabharata (the classic literary work that describes in detail the struggle for power between two groups of cousins, Pandavas and Kauravas), Arjuna, the average Pandava, wanted to get the most powerful weapon (an arrow), pasupathastramof Lord Shiva. he started to do Thank you (meditation concentrating on Shiva) for this purpose, until Shiva appeared before him in person. As a result, Shiva decided to appear before him. But Shiva wanted to test Arjuna’s sincerity and courage to possess such a powerful weapon. Shiva and Parvathy then appeared in front of Arjuna, drawn like hunters dwelling in the forest. After testing Arjuna’s sincerity, to his satisfaction the weapon was presented with certain conditions. The story goes that a son was born to Lord Shiva and Parvathy while they were at this hunter attraction. This son is called Vettakkoru Makan (a son for hunting), which is shortened to Vettekkaran.
In another version of the story, Lord Shiva himself (in the hunter’s attire) is regarded as Vettekkaran. Shiva in this form is known as Kiratan (Kiratha Moorty).
Considered simultaneously a local hero and a divinely haloed personality, Vettekkaran is ensconced and worshiped at both Balussery and Thrikkalangode. Now various people, across the state of Kerala, worship Vettekkaran as their family Deity. The main offering to this Deity is the Kalam Pattu (Kalam means a drawing of the idol on the ground, using different colored powder, and Pattu means songs). Traditionally, members of a certain community called kurupu the community has the right to draw the grand sketch of the deity and to perform the ritual worship by singing the story of Vettekkaran. The Kalam Pattu is accompanied by breaking coconuts. As a special offering, twelve thousand cracked coconuts are sometimes offered as part of this Pattu.
On a slightly raised stage (or level platform), a rectangular area will be marked out with pillars about six feet high, set at the four corners. These pillars will be linked together with long wooden rods on all four sides, so that a rectangular shape is formed on the platform. Three pieces of long cloth will be extended longitudinally over it as a roof, the central piece will be black while the other two will be white. The placement of the central piece is done ceremoniously after a small bid (worship the God) and ask permission from the person offering this Vettekkaran Pattu. This is done in the morning, the day of the performance. Before noon another little bid (called noon pooja) will be there for the Deity. These poojas will be led by a priest while members of the Kurupu community sing praises to the Deity. (The song will be supported by background music using Nanduni, a local stringed instrument generally used only for these kinds of rituals). There will also be occasional drumbeats between performances of devotional songs.
In the afternoon, the decoration and drawing of the colorful sketch of Vettekkaran (called kalam varakkal Prayed Kalamital), inside the rectangle, begins. Five different colored powders are used to make the diagram. The colors used are black, white, yellow, green and red. Powdered rice is taken for white, burnt rice husk for black, powdered turmeric for yellow, powdered green leaf for green, and mixture of turmeric and calcium chloride for red. The drawn diagram will be very beautiful and will consist of all the features of a real hunter. Tender coconut leaves will hang from the top bars around the rectangular frame, complemented by flower garlands.
At the top (near the head of the diagram), on a stool, will be placed an idol of the Deity adorned with flower garlands. A small sword is also kept along with this. The worship by the priest begins at sunset, after the opening Keli (a combined rhythmic performance using different types of drums, cymbals, a type of flute, a blowing horn, etc.). At first a cult is held outside the house, a little far from the site, which is called Mullakkal Pattu. After that, the sword is given to the Oracle (velicchappatu), the symbolic representative of the Deity drawn to the assumption, by the priest. then with details Melam (a systematic and rhythmic performance of all the drums and other instruments), the Deity and the Oracle are brought to the site where the diagram is drawn and arranged for worship.
The priest sits at the bottom (near the Deity’s feet) to perform ritual worship. This worship takes a long time, with supporting devotional songs from the Kurups and occasional drumbeats. After the adoration of the priest is finished, the oracle appears and does a kind of dance around the diagram. This form of dance is called Eedum koorum chavittal. In this dance the oracle takes different steps according to the beating of the drum and the devotional songs. Again, the priest does a certain worship. After this the devotional songs of the Kurups continue, with one of them doing a special worship, called Kalam Poly. After this, the Oracle appears again and begins to dance according to the devotional songs. There will also be drum beats between the songs. This time the Oracle enters the diagram to dance. Furthermore, he sits on a stool and moves the stool, pushing with his legs, into the Deity diagram (called the peetom nirakkal– pushing the stool by sitting on it). Because of this, naturally, the diagram was almost destroyed. After this the Oracle comes out and starts to break the coconut.
Usually a thousand or more coconuts will be there, as an offering, to throw away. But sometimes, as a special case, the offerings will be to split twelve thousand coconuts. The Oracle has to throw and break all these nuts while sitting in the same position and continuously throwing without breaking. This can last three hours (depending on the experience and health of the person, the time can be less or more). The rhythmic roll of drums, to the accompaniment of cymbals, will be there as background music. The oracle usually sits on some coconuts taken from the row of twelve thousand nuts kept behind him. The story behind this coconut break is that the deity’s thirst after hunting was remedied by giving him coconut water. Another version is that cold coconut water is being poured on the Deity to take away his anger.
After breaking the coconuts, the Oracle returns to the place of worship and dances some more, and distributes small packets of betels to the person who has offered this Vettekkaran pattu, and to others as well. After the dance, the oracle sits on the stool, while the Kurups begin to sing devotional songs. After finishing this, the oracle completely removes the diagram using the tender coconut leaves available there. The powdered mixture collected from the ground will be offered to all present as prasadam (remains of offerings to the deity). This powder is pasted by devotees on the forehead. Some use this as medicine for certain illnesses.
This type of Vettekkaran pattu is performed in selected temples as well as houses, with Vettekkaran as the family deity, in different parts of Kerala. To make the function more colorful and attractive, additional elements such as Thayampaka (a special rhythmic drum beat accompanied by cymbals), pancha vadyam (another combination of five different percussion and blow instruments), etc. The first members of a particular family called Karor Panikar they had the rights to become Oracle in Vettekkaran Pattu. Later, when this family became extinct, certain Nambudiri (Kerala Brahmins) families took on this role. Now a couple of Nambudiri families are attending these rituals.