O Lord!: Godfathers of God's Own Country - Couverture souple

Madapat, Saji; Rider, Tiger; Mavericks, EPM; Murugan, Puli

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 1958260835 ISBN 13 : 9781958260838

Editeur : Tiger Rider, 2026

Synopsis

There is a land where the line between earth and heaven wears thin: North Malabar, on India’s southwestern coast. In its sacred groves and ancestral shrines, those who were born of this soil and died for it come back as gods. That homecoming is called Theyyam, and the cry that greets them is Thampurane!—O Lord!
This volume of The Gods of The God’s Own Country belongs to the hero-gods: warriors and elders, guru-deities and forefathers, more than seventy in all. Kathivanoor Veeran, the young Mandappan whose love and death in battle made him a god. Kandanar Kelan, who comes dancing through fire. Muthappan, the hunter-god who ate with those his household shunned, takes toddy and fish as offerings, and speaks to devotees face to face. Pottan, whose song puts untouchability on trial: If you are cut, is it not blood, Chovvar? Karanavar, the ancestor who first enters in plain dress, steel whip-swords flashing. Thondachan, the grandfather whose legend runs with the tigers. Panniyum Makkalum, the boar and her young. Heroes of the Ramayana, too: Bali, Sugriva, and Hanuman. And beside them, Mukri Pokkar and Bappirian: Muslims whom the tradition made gods.
Set against humanity’s long reverence for its dead, from the hero cults of ancient Greece to Mexico’s Day of the Dead, the book looks closely at the hero and ancestor worship at the heart of Theyyam, where the living speak with those they refuse to forget. It reads the ritual grammar by which song and costume, painted face, towering crown, and drum bring a god into a human body; the social history of an art that dared to raise the question of caste; the rare grace of groves where Hindu and Muslim alike become gods; and the secret of one of the few places on earth where a god speaks directly to the believer. Each story comes with its costume, its rite, and the groves where it is still performed, alongside striking photographs taken in those groves. A glossary welcomes readers new to the tradition.
Saji Madapat, honored with the Kala Sreshta award for his contributions to Theyyam, has witnessed and documented more than two hundred Theyyam forms across more than fifty sacred groves, and this book distills years of that fieldwork. With a foreword by Fulbright scholar Prof. David V. Mason and a preface by Kerala folklorist Chandran Muttath.
More than a collection of legends, the book bears witness to faith, resistance, and human dignity—a love letter to Kerala, God’s Own Country. Whether you are a student of folklore, a spiritual seeker, or a reader who loves a great story, enter the grove, where tongues once silenced for their caste speak as gods. Hear the story behind the painted face, and discover what a community remembers when it calls a human being divine.
The first of two companion volumes that together tell the origin stories of some 150 Theyyams. The mother goddesses await in O Mother! Godmothers of God’s Own Country.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Tiger Rider
• Date d'édition: 2026
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 1958260835
• ISBN 13: 9781958260838
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 216
• Éditeur: Mason Dr. David, Muttath Chandran
• Coordonnées du fabricant: Printed by Amazon on behalf of the author; https://www.amazon.fr/hz/contact-us; ; c/o Amazon Media EU S.à.r.l., 38 Avenue John F. Kennedy; Luxembourg; L-1855; Luxembourg