Pulluvas is a specific community in Kerala, who are said to possess the right to do all kinds of poojas related to serpent gods. The knowledge of the rites, songs and the pictures etched in the form of Kalams are passed through successive generations.
Thiriuzhichil is a traditional ritualistic art which sometimes form a part of bigger rituals like Aiyappanvilakku, Pallipana,Aiyappantheeyattu as well. The major difference that constitutes Thiriuzhichil in each of the above mentioned traditional performances is that the kalam(pictorial depiction of the deity) is different for each of these rituals, the images depicted in the kalam will be of the deity in whose honour the ritual is conducted. The instruments that the Pulluvas use for their poojas of the serpent gods are Pulluvakodam(a pot with strings attached) and elathalam(around pot like drum), where as in Aiyappanvilakku and Aiyappantheeyattu, the instruments used are chenda and edakka(two percussion instruments originated from Kerala). In a performance of Thiriuzhichil to the beats ofchenda and edakka, the prominence is for the footsteps in the dance. However the Pulluva instruments used for Thiriuzhichil create additional room for a show of the movement of body and that enhances this performance of Thiriuzhichil. Among the kalams,Naga kalam(Naga meaning snake)- the ones portraying serpents are made to honour living God of Serpent. Thiriuzhichil is a ritual mostly seen in the mid-region of Kerala conducted by the people belonging to the Pulluva community as an oblation to the Sun God who sustains life by offering light and heat. There is no separate or specific kalam for Thiriuzhichil. They carry out several rituals through these kalams to please several Gods and the special offering thus done to pleaseAgni(the God of fire) is specifically known as Thiriuzhichil. Among the five coloured powders obtained naturally, green is the one used to portray serpents as it is believed that Serpent Gods favour that colour. This green powder is made by mixing the powder of the dried leaves from four trees. However for Kalamezhuthu of the other deities, like Bhadrakaali, Vishnu in the ritual of Thottampaatu and Veerabhadran the green powder used is from the powdered leaves of the tree NanmeniWaga. In olden days healers had the practice of using Nanmeniwaga’s leaves to treat snake bites. So the use of specific substances to portray the entwined bodies of serpents and the dots in the kalam is also designed in such a way that it pleases these Gods.
Kalamezhuthu is usually done with five different coloured powders. The whole image is depicted on a bed on black powder, made of burnt rice husk. Other colours used are green, made by grinding the dried leaves of any one of the four different trees Ithil(Mabberely), Chendoori, Annakara and Manjadi. Turmeric powder for yellow, rice powder for white and a mix of turmeric and calcium carbonate forms the red coloured powder. The preparation of these colour powders are taken care by the women in the family generally. The Kalam created on the day of our documentation was an ‘Ashtanagakalam’ in honour of the eight living offspring of Kadru, out of the thousand children. Kadru is considered the daughter of Daksha, one of the four spiritual sons of Lord Brahma. In addition to different kind of Ashtanagakalams, prepared to appease the serpent gods, the images of the parents of serpents- Naga Yakshi and Naga King constitute some of the other kalams. Then there is another sort, called the Bhootakalam, which is done in honour of the ‘Bhoota’s or monsters which guard the treasures and the precious belongings of the serpents. Out of the kalams made to appease the serpent gods, the most important one is the ‘Ananthashayanamkalam’. The word ‘Ananthashayanam’ indicates the laid back, resting position of Lord Vishnu, on top of a bed formed by a huge coiled serpent.

Group leader : Sudeep Mullurkkara

Group Members
1.Prameela Sudeep
2.Anaswara
3.Sanal Kumar
4.Murali.