The Last Women Oracles: From the Land of Bharanipattu

ABSTRACT

In Kerala, a three-thousand-year history of the cult of Mother Goddess worship and women priesthood in Kodungallur, the former historical port of Muziris, points directly to the last women oracles of Kerala. Kodungallur has the unique tradition of Bharanipattu (singing profanities and dancing, on the day of Meena Bharani) every year and once a year, the female oracles from all over Kerala travel to the Kodungallur temple to worship Kodungallur Bhagavati, or Kurumba Devi, the manifestation of the furious Lord Kali, the central deity of all Mother Goddesses in Kerala temples. This paper attempts to listen to the narratives of the last of the oracles to retrieve their muffled, mysterious, and almost erased voices from folktales, anecdotes, folksongs and other forms of oral and written literature.

KEYWORDS:

• Mother Goddess
• Muziris
• Female oracles
• Bharanipattu

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Kodungallur Devi (vanamaliashram.org).

2. In Hindu Mythology, Parasurama, a warrior sage, retrieved Kerala from the sea, by throwing an axe after he reached Gokuram from Kanyakumari. As a result, the land of Kerala arose, reclaimed from the waters. This is also the story of Brahminisation of Kerala.

3. Gopal, Aravind. Enter the Sacred Kavu Groves of Kerala (esamskriti.com).

4. Nileena M.S. on the Meena Bharani festival and the goddess who loves erotica – The Hindu.