Tribesmen begin ‘Naduzhiyal’

They will disguise as women and visit houses in villages in Wayanad

Adiya tribesmen performing ‘Naduzhiyal’ on the premises of Mahavishnu temple at Thirunelly in Wayanad district.

The Adiya tribesmen in Wayanad have started to perform ‘Naduzhiyal’ as part of their ritualistic art form ‘Nadugaddhika’ in villages of the hill district for the prosperity of the public.

The ritual usually starts after the Vaishakha festival at the Mahadeva temple at Kottiyoor in Kannur district.

The tribesmen perform it in all houses in Thirunelly and Thrissilery areas irrespective of caste and creed after offering pujas at the Mahavishnu temple at Thirunelly. The tribespeople believe that ‘gaddhika’ brings prosperity to the hamlet and wards off evil, says T. Santhosh Kumar, a social activist at Thirunelly.

The tribesmen will disguise as women and visit all houses in the village carrying ‘guddies’, a miniature temple made out of plantain sheaths, on their heads and perform the ritual.

Representatives

People receive them with reverence as they are considered representatives of ‘Mari,’ the Goddess Kali, who can expel evil spirits from houses. The ritual will last many days depending on the number of houses in a village. When the house visits are completed, the ‘guddies’ are set afloat in the Kalindi river, a tributary of the Kabani, Mr. Santhosh Kumar said.

“Gaddhika has a significant role in the life of the Adiya tribe,” says P.K. Kariyan, chieftain of the Kaithavally tribal hamlet at Thrissilery. Mr. Kariyan, who is also a gaddhika artiste, said there were two types of the art form — Puja Gaddhika and Naadu Gaddhika.

In Puja Gaddhika, a shaman performs rituals to expel evil spirits when an illness or an epidemic breaks out in a hamlet.

Tribalpeople believe that diseases are caused by the anger of gods.

Naadu Gaddhika is performed for the prosperity of the hamlets.

Music and musical instruments have a predominant role in gaddhika. The ‘thudi,’ a percussion instrument, and the ‘cheenum,’ a reed pipe made out of bamboo, set the tunes.

A few decades ago performing ‘gaddhika’ was so common in every Adiya tribal hamlet at the advent of monsoon but, now the ritualistic art form was performed only at the Thrissilery and Thirunelly hamlets, Mr. Kariyan said.