Poothanum Thirayum —
The Divine Duo of
Valluvanad’s Pooram Festivals

What is Poothanum Thirayum?

Poothanum Thirayum — literally “Poothan and Thira” in Malayalam — is a ritualistic folk art performed mainly in the Valluvanad region (the former medieval kingdom that now spans parts of Palakkad, Malappuram, and Thrissur districts). It is performed annually during the Pooram, Thalappoli, and Vela festival seasons of local Bhagavathy and Bhadrakali temples, from the Malayalam month of Dhanu (December) through Medam (May).

In its essential form, the performance involves two figures visiting the village together — moving from temple to the surrounding houses (a ritual called Thattakam) — to announce the festival, drive away evil, and bless each household. At each house, they are welcomed with oil lamps, flowers, offerings of rice and paddy, and the genuine reverence owed to the deities they embody. They receive rice, paddy, or money from the householders, and throw rice grains back to the household as a blessing.

The performance also takes place at the temple premises on the festival day itself — the Kavettam or Kavil kayaral (entering the kavu/shrine) — when Poothan and Thira reach the temple to conclude their village procession with a performance before the deity.

The Mythology — Darika Vadham and the Story of Kannaki

Two mythological narratives give Poothanum Thirayum its spiritual depth and dramatic character. Both are ancient, and both are performed with a directness — emotional, sometimes comic, sometimes terrifying — that is characteristic of Kerala’s oldest ritual arts.

The Darika Vadham — Victory of the Goddess

The primary mythological framework is the Darika Vadham — the cosmic battle in which Goddess Bhadrakali (embodied by Thira) kills the demon king Darika. According to the myth, Darika could only be killed by a woman. Lord Shiva therefore sent Bhadrakali, accompanied by her Bhoothaganas (spirit-attendants, including Poothan), to confront and destroy him. After Darika’s death, Bhadrakali and Poothan danced together to celebrate the victory — this dance is what the performance enacts. Shiva then asked them to remain on earth to protect the people from evil’s return.

This is why Poothan and Thira continue to walk the village paths at festival time: they are not commemorating a past event but fulfilling a divine mandate to protect the living. Their presence in the village is not theatre but a genuine extension of the divine into the human world.

The Kannaki Narrative — Poothan and the Goldsmith

The second narrative connects Poothanum Thirayum to the Kannaki story from the ancient Sangam epic Silappadikaram. Poothan was Kannaki’s watchman and devoted attendant. Given gold by Kannaki to commission an anklet from a local goldsmith, Poothan delivered the gold faithfully — but the goldsmith substituted brass for gold, cheating them both. Poothan, confused and helpless, biting his tongue in frustrated bewilderment, returned to Kannaki with the fraudulent anklet.

The enactment of this narrative — Poothan’s wild confusion, his helpless anger at being cheated, his tongue-biting bewilderment — is one of the performance’s most expressive and beloved moments. The exaggerated mask with its protruding tongue and staring eyes is, in part, a permanent expression of this legendary cheated bewilderment. This comic-tragic episode gives the performance an emotional texture far richer than simple divine triumph.

The Costume and Mask — Becoming the Divine

Poothan — Red Costume, Wooden Mask, Towering Headgear

The Poothan costume is designed to convey fearsome divine power. It consists of:

• The Outer Costume: A tightly woven red outfit, the colour of Kali and Bhagavathy, embellished with gold-coloured ornaments and trinkets that catch the light as the performer moves
• The Headgear (Mudi): A semi-circular wooden structure made of sixteen individually engraved pieces of light wood, assembled into a grand crown-like form and decorated with coloured dyes, painted serpent-hood shapes, golden circles, and peacock feathers — the peacock being sacred to Murugan, whose iconography overlaps with the Poothan tradition
• The Face Mask: The most striking element — a carved and painted wooden mask with exaggeratedly large, staring eyes and a tongue that protrudes horizontally. The specific expression — fierce, wild, slightly comic — embodies the Poothan character: powerful but also humanly bewildered, as the Kannaki story explains
• Body painting: The face and visible body are painted with a mixture of water, rice flour, and turmeric; the eyes are lined with black kohl; flower garlands are worn
• Anklets (Chilanka): Worn at the ankles, their rhythmic sound marks every step of the Poothan’s dance — the sound of Poothan’s approach is as much a part of the announcement as his visual appearance

Thira — Black Crown, No Mask

The Thira costume is deliberately contrasted with Poothan’s. The defining element is the semi-circular black crown (Mudi), mounted on the head with the symbols of the goddess — Lakshmi icon, divine emblems — embossed on its face. The Thira does not wear a face mask: the goddess’s identity requires no concealment. She is known by her crown and her movement, not by a mask.

The Thira performers are renowned for extraordinary acrobatic skills incorporated into the performance — the physical virtuosity of the Thira’s movement is one of the performance’s most admired elements. The Para drum, with its heavier, reverberating beat, accompanies the Thira and drives the performance’s most intense moments.

The Dance Steps — A Language of Movement

Poothanum Thirayum has a defined sequence of named dance steps, each with its own rhythm, footwork, and expressive purpose. The steps are performed to the accompaniment of the Thudi (for Poothan) and Para (for Thira) — the contrasting weights of the two drums giving each character a distinct sonic identity that an audience familiar with the tradition recognises immediately.

The Village Procession — Thattakam and Kavettam

The structure of a complete Poothanum Thirayum performance has two distinct phases, each serving a specific spiritual and social function.

Thattakam — Visiting Every House

The Thattakam is the village procession phase — in which Poothan and Thira, accompanied by their drummers, move from house to house through the village. At each home, they perform briefly in the courtyard. The householders come out to greet them with lit Kerala oil lamps, flowers, and ritual offerings. The performers throw rice among the onlookers as a blessing. The household gives rice, paddy, or money in return.

The Thattakam typically begins in the early morning hours — often between 2 and 3 AM — and continues through the dawn and into the day. The early morning hour is spiritually significant: this is when the boundary between the human world and the divine world is considered most permeable. The sound of the drums approaching through the pre-dawn darkness, followed by the sudden appearance of the torch-lit masked figure, creates an experience that is intentionally liminal — between the ordinary and the sacred.

Kavettam — Entering the Temple

The Kavettam (Kavil kayaral — “entering the kavu/shrine”) is the formal conclusion of the performance, when Poothan and Thira reach the temple or sacred grove (kavu) to perform before the deity they have been embodying throughout the procession. This moment is the climax of the ritual — the divine representatives return to the divine source, completing the cycle. Vettimalakkam (the climactic leaping step) is typically performed at the Kavettam, the most intense moment of physical and spiritual expression.

In many temples, the Pooram festival itself only formally begins once Poothan and Thira have completed their procession and performed the Kavettam — their arrival at the temple is the signal for the main celebrations to start.

The Mannan Community — Hereditary Custodians

The Mannan community — also called Peruvannan or Perumannan — are the hereditary custodians of Poothanum Thirayum. They are a dalit artisan community of central Kerala who have performed this ritual art for generations, within specific family lineages that hold the right to perform at particular temples and for particular communities.

What makes the Mannan community’s role in Poothanum Thirayum especially significant is that they are not merely performers — they are also craftspeople. The knowledge of how to construct the Poothan mask, assemble the headgear, prepare the costume, and maintain the ritual implements is transmitted within the same family alongside the performance knowledge. The art cannot be separated from the craft.

The social paradox of the Mannan community’s position mirrors a pattern familiar across Kerala’s ritual arts. During the festival — while embodying Poothan and Thira — the performers are revered as divine representatives, welcomed with lamps and offerings. In everyday social life, as members of a historically marginalised community, they have faced discrimination. This tension — between sacred ritual authority and social marginalisation — is one of the most important dimensions of Kerala’s folk art traditions, and Poothanum Thirayum is one of its clearest expressions.

Poothappattu — The Poem That Made Poothan Literature

Poothanum Thirayum’s place in Kerala’s cultural consciousness was decisively shaped by a single poem: Poothappattu (“The Song of Poothan”), written by the celebrated Malayalam poet Edasseri Govindan Nair (1906–1974). Edasseri is widely regarded as one of Malayalam literature’s greatest lyric poets, and Poothappattu is considered one of his finest works.

The poem draws on the Kannaki-Poothan narrative — Poothan’s journey to deliver the gold for the anklet, the cheating by the goldsmith, his bewildered return — and transforms it into an exploration of innocence, exploitation, and the dignity of the wronged. Edasseri’s Poothan is not merely a comic figure in a ritual performance but a sympathetic character whose bewilderment reflects a larger social truth: the experience of the simple and honest being cheated by those with power and guile.

Poothappattu has been part of the Malayalam school curriculum, ensuring that generations of Keralites have grown up with Edasseri’s Poothan — which means that the living ritual folk art of Poothanum Thirayum has a literary mirror that gives it additional cultural weight and intelligibility. The poem and the performance reinforce each other: those who have read Edasseri’s poem watch the performance with a different depth of understanding.

Poothanum Thirayum in Kerala’s Ritual Art Tradition

Poothanum Thirayum belongs to a broader pattern in Kerala’s ritual art world: performances in which marginalized communities temporarily inhabit divine authority, where the fierce goddess is the primary sacred force, and where the performing community’s hereditary knowledge is both artistic and spiritual. Understanding Poothanum Thirayum fully means understanding its connections to parallel traditions.

• Theyyam — North Kerala’s ritual art in which performers of lower castes embody deities with an authority that temporarily overrides caste hierarchy. Poothan’s style of dress is explicitly noted to share visual ancestry with Theyyam. Both traditions involve the Bhadrakali/Bhagavathy worship tradition.
• Padayani — Central Kerala’s ritual art of giant kolam (masks) made from palm fronds, performed at Bhagavathy temples in similar festival contexts. Padayani and Poothanum Thirayum are sister traditions of the same Bhadrakali worship culture.
• Pottan Theyyam — A North Kerala Theyyam that, like Poothanum Thirayum, features a character who interacts with the divine through a story of humiliation and spiritual wisdom — reflecting the same cultural pattern of the marginalised being elevated by the goddess.

Frequently Asked Questions — Poothanum Thirayum