Gandharvan Pattu

This family has a tradition of organising a festival called 'Gandharvan pattu' every year. There is no record on for how many years this event has been going on. All the family members get together in the ancestral home in Mannanam,Kottayam to organise this function. This ceremony is organised to invoke Gandharvan(God of prosperity) for the prosperity of the family. In fact the name "Kalampukattu" is said to have come from 'kalam' (meaning drawing) and 'paattu' (means song). The festival is generally held for three days and all the family members congregate at the 'tharavaadu' for the three days. The rituals start right from the morning with 'poojas'. People who know to conduct the ceremony (kaniyaanmaars) are invited. They sing traditional songs to invoke the 'Gandharvan'. The main event takes place after midnight. A 'kalam' is prepared on the floor of the 'pandal' using natural dyes,colour powders, leaves, etc. An ammooma (eldest lady) in the family sits in the pandal facing the 'kalam'.The kaniyaanmaars sing the songs to invoke the Gandharvan. After a lengthy spell of singing the lady gets into a trance. She later gets up as the tempo of the songs get faster and the ammoomma gets up and dances. She goes round the pandal and starts sweeping the 'kalam' with a 'pookula'(flower of coconut tree). At the end of the ceremony the whole 'kalam' is swept and all the floral arrangements etc are thrown. This is followed for all the three days. At the end of the third day the 'peethom' (seat of the God Gandharvan) is taken by the ammooma and kept on the ceiling of the house. This is a symbolic representation of the Gandharva being re-instated back in the 'tharavaad'. This will remain there till the next function in the subsequent year.