Kandanar Kelan

Who is Kandanar Kelan?

Kandanar Kelan is a Theyyam of North Malabar that remembers a farmer named Kelan. The name is explained as “the one found in the forest fire”. Tellings agree on the outline and differ in details, so please treat the following as a general summary of oral tradition.

The story

In one version Kelan is a foundling raised by a childless woman of the Thiyya community, and as a grown man he cleared the forest for her to farm. While clearing yet another piece of land, a fire broke out. He climbed a tree to escape, but snakes were among its branches. The tree burned and fell, and Kelan and the snakes died.

The hunter god Vayanattu Kulavan came upon the ashes, touched the form there with his bow, and Kelan was restored to life. From then on he was honoured as a deity. One account says he set the fire himself while clearing land after drinking, while another says it was an accident. The sources do not settle which.

Hero photo: Artoffabhi, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

What you will see

Descriptions mention red and gold attire, heavy anklets whose sound marks the deity’s presence, a face painted in red and black, and a headdress placed on the koladhari to mark the arrival of the god. Two painted serpents on the chest recall the snakes in the story.

Koladhari: the person who takes on the kolam, the deity’s form. See Theyyam words explained.

In the tradition

The ritual includes a passage called Agni Pravesham, in which the koladhari enters a fire of coconut leaves, and the origin song is sung before it. Afterwards the deity receives devotees and gives blessings. The deity is tied to the Thiyya community by the story, and the Theyyam is traditionally kept by the Malaya community.

Quick answers

Who is Kandanar Kelan in Theyyam?

Kandanar Kelan is a Theyyam of North Malabar that remembers a farmer named Kelan. The name is explained as “the one found in the forest fire”. Tellings agree on the outline and differ in details, so please treat the following as a general summary of oral tradition.

What does Kandanar Kelan Theyyam look like?

Descriptions mention red and gold attire, heavy anklets whose sound marks the deity’s presence, a face painted in red and black, and a headdress placed on the koladhari to mark the arrival of the god. Two painted serpents on the chest recall the snakes in the story.

Sources and further reading: Theyyam (Wikipedia), Kerala Folklore: Kandanar Kelan Theyyam. Stories vary by shrine, family and teller; this is a general summary, not a definitive version.