Fort St. Angelo - a landmark in Kerala

Kerala has many things going for it. There is the great landscape, a wonderful culture and an interesting history. Tucked away somewhat far from the public eye and the usual tourist circuits, is the Fort St. Angelo located a little to the north of the town of Kannur, in North Kerala.

Following the visit of Vasco de Gama, the Portuguese navigator to that area, the local king granted land at the site to the Portuguese in 1505 and a wooden fort soon came up there. Afonso de Albuquerque became governor at the fort in 1509. This helped in the later Portuguese occupation of Goa. The original wooden fort was soon replaced by a fort built of laterite blocks and brick and mortar. Later in 1663, the fort was occupied by the Dutch and a few years later by the British. It remained as the principal British miltary centre on the Malabar coast till 1947.

This is a view of the Arabian Sea from the ramparts of the Fort Angelo. Since this is located quite near Kannur, one can take a bus or a vehicle to this site quite easily.

"God's own Country" - "Theyyam" ceremony at Parasinikaduvu

Kerala is widely renowned and publicized as "God's Own Country". This is both literal and metaphorical - as Kerala is wonderfully beautiful, as God's own country should be. But it is so also in the literal sense as it is dotted with shrines and temples to so many gods, some known and many not so well-known outside of Kerala. The "Theyyam" ceremony is to be widely seen in the northern region of Kerala, near and around Kannur and Thalassery. It is said the word "theyyam" is derived from the word "daivam" and it is basically an invocation of a major god of the Hindu pantheon, such as Vishnu or Shiva or Bhagavati or of some lesser-known god, such as Muthuappan. Parasinikaduvu is situated about 30 kms from Kannur town and is a major venue of the "theyyam" ceremony. It commences in the evening and goes on for 3/4 hours with a series of rituals and chantings, enlivened by the music of the "chhenda", or the long drum popular in Kerala, and the nadeswaram, or a sehnai-like wind instrument.Here the rituals are for the folk god, Muthuappan.

This picture shows the votive lamps at the Parasinikaduvu ceremony in December 2012.

As may be seen in this picture, the priests usually wear a special head-dress and garments for the ceremony and often hold a sword in the hand. It is said that the priest often goes into a trance and is able to tell the future and fortunes of a devotee who approaches him at the time. A visitor from out of state would find the Theyyam ceremonies of much interest,