Mudiyettu, ritual theatre and dance drama of Kerala

Overview

Mudiyettu is a ritual dance drama from Kerala based on the mythological tale of a battle between the goddess Kali and the demon Darika. It is a community ritual in which the entire village participates. After the summer crops have been harvested, the villagers reach the temple in the early morning on an appointed day. Mudiyettu performers purify themselves through fasting and prayer, then draw a huge image of goddess Kali, called as ''kalam'', on the temple floor with coloured powders, wherein the spirit of the goddess is invoked. This prepares the ground for the lively enactment to follow, in which the divine sage Narada importunes Shiva to contain the demon Darika, who is immune to defeat by mortals. Shiva instead commands that Darika will die at the hand of the goddess Kali. Mudiyettu is performed annually in ‘Bhagavati Kavus’, the temples of the goddess, in different villages along...

This record is imported from the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage public dataset as discovery metadata. ARED has not independently verified community authority, access protocols or local naming beyond the source record.

Community and Authority

Communities: India
Languages: Not specified in UNESCO dataset
Cultural territories: India
Countries: India

How the System Works

Music, Performance and Oral Literature Language, Story and Memory Material Culture, Design and Technology Ceremony, Spirituality and Cosmology Ways of Knowing and Knowledge Transmission

Sources and Evidence

Imported from UNESCO DataHub dataset ich001. Field-level provenance is retained in the record metadata.

UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage ListsDataset

Open original source record

Field-Level Provenance

title: UNESCO DataHub field title_en
preferredTitle: UNESCO DataHub field title_fr
summary: UNESCO DataHub field description_en
type: UNESCO DataHub fields type_of_element_en and type_acronym
countries: UNESCO DataHub field countries, ISO codes resolved with ISO-3166 regional metadata
categories: ARED category inference from UNESCO concepts_primary_names, concepts_secondary_names and title
relationships: UNESCO concepts_primary_names, concepts_secondary_names, type fields and World Heritage links
sourceUrl: UNESCO DataHub field http_url_en
rights: UNESCO DataHub dataset metadata license and license_url

Original Source Metadata

uuid0b531ba5-6800-4f4b-8db1-71f076661717

ich_public_ref345

inscription_year2010

title_enMudiyettu, ritual theatre and dance drama of Kerala

title_frLe Mudiyettu, théâtre rituel et drame dansé du Kerala

type_of_element_enRepresentative List

type_acronymRL

countriesIN

http_url_enhttps://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/00345

concepts_primary_namesDance, Religious practice, Theatre

concepts_secondary_namesBladed weapons, Caste, Costumes, Drawing, Hinduism, Instrumental music, Makeup, Mythology, Orchestras, Poetry, Prosperity ritual, Ritual purification, Temples, Transvestism, Vocal music

main_image_urlhttps://ich.unesco.org/img/photo/thumb/01937-LRG.jpg

main_image_caption_enNot supplied

main_image_copyrightIGNCA/Government of India, 2009

main_image_authorP. S.Ali

videoshttps://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/FEWXi2SHodk

images[object Object], [object Object], [object Object]

Why This Record Is Credible

This public record is connected to 1 source and has been labelled Source Supported. ARED separates evidence sources from cultural authority so users can see both provenance and review limits.

Cultural Access

Use this as public discovery metadata only. It does not replace community authority or local access protocols.

Relationships

Dance Religious practice Theatre Bladed weapons Caste Costumes Drawing Hinduism Instrumental music Makeup Mythology UNESCO representative list World Heritage connection: Western Ghats

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