Kerala

 Kerala

(This is a list.... I might be able to add, if oddities occur. So, this blog might warrant a revisit, if a reader solicits those additions)

Kerala 1)Tantra based instead of mantra 2)Abode for brahmaRaakshas inside temple compound only in Kerala! 3)Tonsure is not a practice 4)Elder brother and a husband addressed alike with "Jeyshta" 5)Deepavali not a festival 6)Bali, though a demon like ravana kamsa etc, worshipped 7)Gates closed at night only after a call "any hungry stomach out there???" 8)Strict dress code for temples, rituals according to deity and not desire of devotees 9)Tuft of hair tied up to the side towards ear lobes, not towards rear of head. 10)Fireworks specific to temple festivals… 11)Benedictions sought, not blessings! 12)Obsequies, 16 days, instead of 13 for rest of India! 13)Vysya as an exclusive class is not conspicuous among known names of classes/groups!  14)No exclusive Vishnu worshippers among Hindus in Kerala. Rest of India has few sects in Hindus, who avoid worshipping Shiva! 15)A priest in a temple is called "shaantiKaaran"( one who induces peace, shaanti), unlike in rest of Bharat, a poojaari . Was it due to taantrik styled consecration? 😜 16)Rangoli is conspicuously absent, at the entrance of homes in kerala, whereas, it used to be a “wall calendar“, appropriate to an almanac, for rest of Bharat. It is the males, who were initiated into drawing tantric designs, enlivened by certain dots, to convince us that they were better at “rangoli” than rest of us🙂 17)kerala has “adima-kaavu” instead of Kula-devata in rest of Bharat 😜 The very word indicates the level and depth of surrender to personal deity. Kuladevata is usually a male deity, though goddesses too are regarded thus. Whereas, adima_kaavu is invariably a godess! ( ‘kavu’ itself is indicative of a godess!)

A keralite in-me, yours

psn(7th Sept., 2024)