MALAYALI CULTURE

LET'S FIND OUT THE CULTURAL BEAUTY OF THE BEAUTIFUL HOLY LAND.

As the Culture of God's Own Country is a part of India, it is a composite and cosmopolitan in nature. The culture of the state is derived from the Aryan and Dravidian cultures. Now it has been elaborated through centuries of contact with neighbouring and overseas cultures. However, Kerala has a distinctive lifestyle, art, architecture, language, literature, social institutions etc which makes Malayali people unique from rest of the world.



The Malayalam calendar which is a solar calendar started from 825 CE in Kerala is commonly used in agricultural planning and religious activities. Different slangs of the official language Malayalam, which is one of the classical languages of India are also spoken by the people of Kerala.
Every year over 10,000 festivals are celebrated in the State including Poorams (especially Thrissur Pooram), Makaravilaku, Attukal Pongala, Neymara Vallangi Vela and so on. Mainly the temples in Kerala holds Festivals and Utsavams, which are local festivals conducted on an annual basis. During the festivals, the surrounding of the temples will be hugely crowded, firework displays and it usually involve at least one richly caparisoned Elephant and as a procession, the idol in the temple is taken out around the countryside atop the elephant. Traditional music such as Panchari melam or Panchavadyam is often included in the procession.




The land of coconuts is also home to a number of performance arts including the five classical dance forms which were originated and developed in the temple theatres during the classical period under the patronage of royal houses.

• Kathakali
• Mohiniyatam
• Koodiyattom
• Thullal
• Krishnanattam

The other dance forms associated with the temple culture of the region are:

• Kerala natanam
• Thirayattam
• Kaliyattam
• Theyyam 
• Koothu
• Padayani

The popular traditional dance forms among Syrian Christians are

•  Margamkali
• Parichamuttukali

And among Latin Christians is

• Chavittunadakam

The popular dance forms of Muslims of the State are

• Oppana
• Duffmuttu

The development of the indigenous classical music in God's Own Country is received from the traditional performance arts associated with the temple culture of Kerala. Several musical forms illustrates the rich contribution of the culture of the temple has made to the art forms of Kerala like the classical music form Sopana Sangeetham. As the result of popularisation of the genre in the 19th century by Swathi Thirunal Rama Varma, the Carnatic music dominates Kerala's traditional music. Sopanam accompany Kathakali performances are Raga-based renditions. The percussive style of music Melam includes the paandi and panchari variants and it is performed with the chenda during the temple-centred festivals.

The state's most renowned painter is Raja Ravi Varma, who gave a different outlook to the visual arts of Kerala which ranges from traditional murals.

Associated with a variety of themes the state's most of the caste and communities have rich collections of folk songs and ballads including 

• Vadakkan Pattukal (Northern Ballads)
• Thekkan Pattukal (Southern Ballads)
• Vanchi Pattukal (Boat Songs)
• Mappila Pattukal (Muslim Songs)
• Palli Pattukal (Church Songs)

Even the Malayalam films have central attention in the overall Indian Film Industry because of the quality of the presentation of social themes. The Indian Film Industry is rich with directors who have made a considerable contribution to the Indian parallel cinema like Adoor Gopalakrishnan, G. Aravidan, Bharathan, P. Padmarajan, M. T Vasudevan Nair, K.G. George, Priyadarshan, John Abraham, Ramu Karyat, K.S Sethumadavan, A. Vincent, Shaji N Karun etc. Also, Kerala is the birth land of talented numerous actors such as Satyan, Prem Nasir, Madhu, Sheela, Sharadha, Jayan, Adoor Bhasi, Seema, Bharath Gopi, Mohanlal, Mammooty and so on. 

The gifted Malayalam actor Prem Nazir holds the world record for acted as protagonist in more than 720 movies. Kerala has produced eminent personalities like K.J Yesudas, K.S Chitra in the field of singing. 

Malayalam literature also played a major role in shaping the Kerala state. The notable writers, poets like Thunchaththu Ezhuthachan, Kumaranashan, Vallathol Narayana Menon, Ulloor S Parameswara Iyer and so on are notable among them.

The cuisine of Kerala is also a part of the Land of Coconuts.

KERALA - ELEPHANT RELATIONSHIP

The official symbols of God's Own Country represent the cultural heritage and natural treasures of the entire State. Let's have a look on the State Animal.

STATE ANIMAL - INDIAN ELEPHANT

The Elephas maximus indicus, the Asian Elephant which is popularly known as Indian Elephant is the State Animal of Kerala. It is a huge land animal that extensively used for labour and very few are left in the wild. It is native to mainland Asia (India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Thailand, Malay Peninsula, Laos, China, Cambodia, Vietnam) and one of the three extant recognised subspecies of the Asian elephant. The Asian elephants have the highest body point on the head, broader skulls, tip of trunk has one finger-like process, larger trunks, toes are large and broad, back is convex or level, abdomen is proportionate with their body weight and smaller in terms of size, ears, tusk's length when compared to the African Elephants. The Asian Elephants have 19 pair of ribs and they reach a shoulder height of between 2 and 3.5 m (6.6 and 11.5 ft), weigh between 2000 and 5000 kg. Their skin colour is lighter than that of African counterparts. Even though Indian Elephants scores in overall looks. With short or no tusks, females are usually smaller than males. The giant mammals consuming around 250 kg of food a day are strict vegetarians, feeding on grass, leaves, bamboo, roots, fruits, flowers and also they inhabit in grasslands, dry deciduous, moist deciduous, evergreen and semi-evergreen forests.    

Kerala has more than seven hundred domesticated Elephants along with a large population of wild elephants. Also, it is believed that if an elephant has been captured in the wild and domesticated then it will never be accepted by other wild elephants. Most of the domesticated ones are owned by temples and individuals. Few of them are used for work at timber yards and others are used for religious ceremonies in and around the temples, some churches and mosques also. The Elephant is featured on the emblem of the Government of Kerala as the State Animal.

Since Ancient times, Elephants have been an integral part of Kerala's culture and heritage. The majestic Indian Elephants adorned every King's prized possessions. The coat of arms of former Kingdoms (Travancore, Cochin) in Kerala depicted Elephants and even the modern state acknowledges the role of Elephants in the state's culture by incorporating them in the State's Symbol. 

Almost all temples in Kerala have Elephants which are a core part of ritual worship, many of them are donated by devotees which are actively employed in temple duties. The famous Lord Krishna Temple at Guruvayoor is notable among them that possess more than 60 elephants. Pannathurkotta in Guruvayoor which is in Thrissur district is the World's only Elephant Park, which is known as Elephant Palace. The highlights of temple festivals and processions in Kerala are the Elephants decorated with caparisons. In temples, Elephants carry the deity during the annual festival processions and ceremonial circumambulations. 

All times, for the people of Kerala, Elephant is the symbol of pride and elegance. The gentle giants namely Guruvayoor Kesavan, Guruvayoor Padmanabhan, Pampadi Rajan etc have high esteem by the Keralites. Kerala is the only state where there are Fan Associations for Elephants. 

Thrissur Pooram in Vadakkunnathan Temple is the most famous annual Hindu temple-centred festival in Kerala which is known as the Elephant festival. This festival is known for the Elephants because, in the main parade of the celebration, two teams of 15 beautifully caparisoned elephants face off across the temple grounds and on each elephant's back, a man holds a parasol which is taller than the elephant itself. Another waves a yak-tail fan like a feather boa and when the Pandimelam (temple orchestra) plays, the parasols are exchanged among the men standing on the Elephants. Also in the night, there is a pyrotechnic display of elephantine proportions with fireworks.