In God’s Mirror: The Theyyams of Malabar
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16 Jan
2024
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Community Engagement
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Pepita Seth
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Photo Courtesy : Pepita Seth
This talk will focus on northern Kerala’s unique and powerful ritual of Theyyam, a form of worship in which entitled men manifest as deities, their divine status being indicated by elaborate costumes and intricate makeup. The project was initiated with the active collaboration of Theyyam’s practitioners with whom the writer/photographer spent 20 years photographing and learning about Theyyam. Details of their lives are woven in with her personal interactions with the deities.
Free In-Person Public Lecture
Duration -
January 16, 2024
Timing: Tea: 6:00 PM | Discussion: 6:30 - 8:00 pm IST
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Pepita Seth
Pepita Seth has spent nearly 50 years immersed in Kerala’s Hindu rituals. Though academically untrained, her deep respect and admiration for Kerala’s traditional culture has inspired her to write about, and photograph, this powerful universe. She has also given talks and held several exhibitions of her photographs in India, the UK, the US and Europe. Among her published books are Heaven on Earth: The Universe of Kerala’s Guruvayur Temple’ (2008: Niyogi Books ) and ‘In God’s Mirror: The Theyyams of Malabar’ (2023 Scala). She was awarded a Padma Shri by the Government of India in 2012 and the Burton Medal by the Royal Asiatic Society in 2022.