11. POSSESSED BY DANCE

The word "bhoot" is typically associated with ghosts and hauntings. However, among Tulu-speaking communities on the southwestern coast of India, bhootas are revered as deities who bless the land and its people. Bhoota Kola is a ritualistic dance in which a bhoota is believed to possess the body of a human performer. But where did the bhootas come from, and why is Bhoota Kola so significant in Tulu culture?

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Written and voiced by Chandrima Das, a best-selling author, storyteller and an avid collector of dark tales. Follow her @hackiechan on all social media platforms.

Produced by Aishwarya Javalgekar
Sound design by Aditya Arya
Artwork by Artisto Designz

Disclaimer: This show is for entertainment purposes only and is not intended to outrage, insult, defame, or hurt any religion or religious sentiments, beliefs, feelings of any person, entity, class or community and does not encourage or propagate any superstition, black magic and/ or witchcraft. While every effort has been made in research, we do not make any representation or warranties with respect to the accuracy, applicability or completeness of the content.

Transcript

Chandrima Das  00:00

This show was made for entertainment purposes only. It is not intended to outrage, insult, defame or hurt any religion or religious sentiments, beliefs feelings of any person, entity, class or community and does not encourage or propagate any superstition black magic and of witchcraft. listeners should exercise their discretion. What comes to mind when you hear the word good? CO stories, hauntings dead people refusing to move on, right? But in some areas along the southwestern coast of India, the word Buddha carries a different meaning. Here, the Buddha is a deities who protect the land and communicate with its people. But how exactly do these Buddha's communicate through big boards, tapping on the walls, cold winds on the back of your neck know the Buddha's communicate through the medium of dance. Let's dive into both the cola. This is rumors. I am Chandra Das. Join me as I shine a light on the darkest corners of India, where facts and fiction combine into magical and haunting stories. As night falls upon a coastal village into Lunada, a crowd gathers in the village square under a tall flag. Food and game stalls in the manner of small village fairs dot the area to the early part of the evening. Events such as cockfights, football and betting games take place on the sidelines. There's noise, music and food. And finally, the villagers are ready for the main event of the night. The annual buta cola. There is no elevated stage here. The COLA ritual takes place at the same level as the audience, including them as part of the proceedings. colorful flowers and palm fronds decorate the main arena. offerings are placed on banana leaves, tiny electric lights and a few torches blazing with fire beat back the darkness. While the scent of incense and smoke fills everyone's nostrils. The Bandara or deity is placed on one side of the arena. A short stocky man approaches it with reverence and begins to beat the drum. he recites the part Donna, on narrative of this deity to the hypnotic beat. He speaks of its origin story, historic deeds and characteristics. The man twitches and convulses at regular intervals, but continues with his song. The observing crowd nods knowingly. These convulsions are the early signs of spirit possession. After the song or partner is complete, the man's family members help him adorn his face and body with makeup. He then puts on the costume and jewelry of the Deity. As women from his clan surround him and sing devotional songs. He is now a dancer, a performer erupting in colors. Then, the dance begins. The dancer picks up a pair of anklets and moves to the beats provided by live musicians. Then he wears the anklets a Peary or a costume of palm fronds is wrapped around his waist. The dancer continues, his steps gaining pace. His arms and legs flail in perfect sync to the beat, the palm fronds around his waist bouncing in waves. His dance gathers energy, more weaker, more expression. And then his face changes. His eyes and expressions take on a vitality rarely seen in humans. His movements take on a primordial rhythm he He is no longer himself. A Buddha has descended into him. convulsing in this tram of energy. The dancer stands before the Deity. The audience showers him with rice. They offer prayers to the Buddha and him. The Buddha turns and addresses the devotees. Why have they called him? Why has he been invoked? The devotees placate the Buddha, asking him for his blessings and protection. They asked for a good crop that year, and prosperity for the community. The performer extends his hands, asking for burning torches to be handed to him. Men of his family quickly pass him a few lit torches. He then performs a dance with fire. He even brings one torch close to his chest. Miraculously, the fire doesn't burn him. Finally, he dawns in enormous headgear and mask, a state of complete trance envelops the dancer. If it was even possible, the tempo of the music increases, the performer takes a sword and brandishes it in the air. The crowd looks on agape, the dancers transformation into the Buddha is complete. The crowd approaches him and seeks his blessings one by one. They ask for advice and engage in dialogue with the Buddha, who is being channeled by the performer. Some people bring forward family and land disputes, asking for justice to be delivered. The Buddha gives his verdict and settles these. Unlike the government's courts, the booth as decisions are final, with no provision for appeal. Slowly, the sky brightens with the first rays of sunlight. Night leads into dawn. The Cola or play for this Buddha is now complete. Buddha cola is also known as Buddha Nima or diver Anthony. This spirit worship ritual is celebrated by Toulouse speaking people along the western coast of India, in Tulu. bootha literally translates to spirit. Full of speakers come from the culturally contiguous areas of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts of Karnataka and Kasargod district in Kerala. Those who are not familiar with the local culture may misinterpret the voters of the Lunada as demons, but the people of the region recognize them as generous deities, or at least deities who can be kind, if appeased in the right manner. These deities may not be known in the rest of India, but here they are worshipped across classes, castes, and even religions. Many Muslims and Christians of the region are also believers in the Buddha's and come to offer their respects during the annual rituals. Buddha cola is not performed throughout the year. Most Buddha so divers are invoked only once a year during specific occasions. But there are many divers to be called. And so Buddha Cola has a season, which begins in November and continues till the end of May, just before the monsoons arrive. So where did the Buddha or divers come from? Were they always around the part than us, or oral narratives of the Toulouse hold some answers. The origin stories of many deities describe them traveling the length and breadth of the coastal and adjacent regions, looking for places to settle. They either came of their own will, or because an authority figure invited them. These myths describe some deities sneaking inside empty oil containers or waterpots to travel or even hitching a ride on an unwitting humans cane umbrella. Others arrived in a more regal style on large ships accompanied by a retinue of followers. Once a favorable home is found, the deity settles down. People offer divers their faith, and in turn, the diver protects the people of the region. The underlying belief is that the land belongs to the deities who have merely left it in the custody of the local chief known as the raja as the deities right presentative It is the rajas duty to be an ideal king. He is to maintain justice and order in the land under his care and worship the Deity periodically. The Deity blesses the land and its people with prosperity. But if needed, the deity can also offer guidance and ask the Raja to correct his errant waves, as shown in the recent Canada film Kantara. The origin stories of specific divers are very interesting and offer many insights. But since one podcast episode cannot cover all of them, let's begin with stories of the two divers depicted in the movie. The first diver is sponger read the spirit of a wild boar. According to one legend, pungently trampled down a grove of bananas that belong to the Goddess Parvati, so she angrily cursed him to be born on earth and learn a better use of his destructive abilities by protecting humans. Another version of the pad Donna say that goddess Parvati had kept a young wild boar as her pet. She loved it dearly like a mother. Naturally, the young boy grew to be quite naughty and spoiled. One day, it went on a rampage and destroyed the gardens in Kailash, Lord Shiva is about seeing his gardens destroyed. Shiva was so overcome with rage that he killed the wild boar. But his anger came with consequences. Upon losing her favorite pet, his wife, Parvati became very upset to pacify her. Shiva brought the ball back to life as a spirit and sent it to Earth to protect humans. These stories illustrate Punjabis power, but also his tendency to be destructive. Just as he trampled Shiva Sacred Grove, he can unleash illness and calamities upon the region he inhabits. During pungently, Scola, Parvati, dances along with him, and the dancer, channeling pungently, wears a bore mask at the end. It is likely that when humans first began cultivating these lands, wild boars would invade the fields and feed on crops. People may have begun the practice of appeasing wild boars to protect their crops. And others another Daeva, also covered in Cantera, is the wild primordial spirit guli Godiva galega is hunger itself. He enjoys playing with fire, that all consuming element and like fire and hunger is very hard to control. According to Python as Goddess Parvati once found a stone in the ashes of a sacred fire that had been extinguished. She brought it to Lord Shiva, who threw the stone to the ground with great force, the stone broke open and galega diver emerged, hungry and why. Lord Vishnu then cursed this creature to take birth, perhaps as a first attempt to give him some direction. But galega refused to be born the regular way. He tore open his mother's belly, and reentered the universe with a hunger that couldn't be quenched. He forced ate all the fish in Vishnu Lake, and then he even tried to eat the sun. They provided galica with animal blood, but nothing satisfied him. Finally, Lord Vishnu served him his own little finger. And this act of sacrifice extinguished Gallagher's eternal hunger. Traditionally, galica diver was worshipped as a small rectangular stone kept in the shade of a tree. Today, however, guli guys access through shrines, metal masks and idols. He is worshipped as a guardian deity or shape ripple in the periphery of the day we are divine feminine temple. It is believed that galega absorbs energy from the sun and rain and thus generates the power to ward off any threat from the region under his authority. He is fierce, aggressive, and unstoppable. This ferocity is channeled during goolka Cola. The dancers face is decorated in a base of black, with red, white and green dotting it. Since galega diver loves fire, the highly energetic Dawn His movements include pyrotechnics with burning firewood. galica Deva and Fangio Lee Deva often appear together according to oral narratives galega and pungently, both being wild primordial energies got into a massive fight with each other. The seven jello gods or goddesses of the sea, had to intervene and calm them down. The Goddesses helped to mediate a truce between the two great divers. After which fun Julie and galega lived his brothers with respect for each other. But not all booters are primordial energies. One part Donna tells the story of Burberry, a Buddha who lived as a legendary fisherman around 500 years ago. Nobody was born near go to a Toulouse speaking Jan woman named to do negotiating. There who had been married 40 times, but on the very first night of marriage, each of her husbands would die in their sleep. For those who had no idea why this was happening, prospective suitors became quite scared to marry her. Despite her beauty and amiable personality. Those brothers finally arranged a 41st wedding with a man of North African Muslim descent named Martha Berry. On the first night after marriage, as Dr. Gu slept, Barry got up. He bundled up some cloth into the shape of a human and pleased to decide his new wife to make it look like he was the one sleeping next to her. Then Barry waited and watched. In the middle of the night, a white snake slithered out of Turgoose right nostril, it inched towards the bundle of cloth and bared its fangs preparing to bite. The snake clamped its jaws on the cloth, Berry leaped forward, got the snake and killed it. But his ordeal wasn't over. A few moments later, a black snake emerged from Burgos left nostril. This time, Barry was better prepared, he caught the snake too, and killed it. The next morning, Durga woke up and was amazed to find her new husband still alive, very narrated what had happened to her. The girl was overjoyed, her husband had freed her from the curse of the snakes. Soon after, they had a son named barbarian. He was tall and strong. And the tender age of six, he dug out his first boat and sailed into the sea to fish. He grew up to become one of the most successful fishermen on the Konkan coast. He built a thriving trade business that helped his entire community prosper. Burberry finally perished in a storm at sea, pulled to the depths along with his sailors, and what of Durga Shakti and the curse that paid her. We just don't know. Today Burberry is a revered figure among the Zulu speaking coastal fishermen who believe that he protects them when the seas are rough, and helps bring in a bountiful catch. They say Burberry's spirit is extremely restless. Perhaps because he traveled so much in life or because of the guilt he still carries for the death of his sailors. The dance movements of the COLA that channel him reflect this restlessness. These are just three but in practice there are more than 350 kinds of Buddha's are diverse. Talk about diversity, Sama nature or animal spirits, like pungently. Some are related to Hindu gods. Others like Burberry are the spirits of human beings. ancient historical characters are heroes of the region. There are even instances of mythological heroes or deities of other religions and regions being included as divers after receiving the grace of existing divers, such as Ali buta and RB buta boosters are also associated with specific identities. There are Jain divers, Bond divers and mappila divers. Many divers are female, and they're also androgynous divers like Giamatti who is depicted with breasts, but also a beard. There are no written dog Humans that specify the complex Proceedings of the booth Nicola. It is the dancers are channelers of the spirits, who have developed and reshape these narratives, dance movements and rituals over 1000s of years from their experience and imagination. The Buddha cola performers don't claim to be keepers of spiritual knowledge. As individual humans, they play no role as moral guardians of society, offering personal judgments of right or wrong. They are simply the performance and preservers of an ancient art form. They are conduits, who use dance to manifest the divers. Each diver has their signature makeup and ritual. Even the movements and expressions that are performed match the energy and characteristics of the diver. Performers say it is this energy of dance that allows the divers to descend upon them. The knowledge of these narratives and rituals is maintained within certain families who usually belong to scheduled castes, and as passed down only to the male members. Performers must undergo spiritual training, and observe several restrictions for their role. Their regimen prohibits them from eating meat or consuming alcohol and asks them to remain celibate. During the ritual, the young male members of the family helped the dancer by carrying out errands and putting the costume and makeup on his body. Through such assistance, young boys learn the art so that one day they can invoke the spirits themselves. Women of these families sing and chant the partner, but they are forbidden from channeling the spirits, not even the feminine divers. So why is the Buddha cola so important in Toulouse society? How has it withstood the ravages of time for 1000s of years. The cooler rituals and divers have likely survived because they offer something that society desperately needs. The first is a sense of balance. The partners acknowledge that human civilization is in constant conflict with the untamed forces of the natural world. The forest and its wild animals threatened to destroy the agricultural way of life unless people invoke the spirits of the Buddha and the Buddha indicators that helped maintain a balance between man and nature. When the balance is disturbed, the spirits turn malevolent. But if the balance is restored, the spirits are kind. The Buddha's are not representatives of good or evil. They don't take sides between man and nature. Their primary aim is to maintain cosmic balance and deliver justice in society. The Buddha is a social and environmental regulators. And this is probably also why the rituals include diverse and therefore people from all castes, communities, and religions. The second thing that the Buddha cola offers is a brief window for us to look directly upon the divine. For non believers, it's hard to accept that the divers really descend into the human conduits during these rituals. But perhaps even they can agree that the divine which already exists within the performer emerges in moments of intense trance. By focusing our attention on the performer, the audience receives the thumb of the same energy. They say art is a channel to the divine. The art of Buddha cola is a living demonstrated example of this. The Buddha cola performers don't just channel the divine for themselves, but in the service of their communities. Perhaps it tells us that any artist who generously offers his or her abilities for the benefit of others, who can melt the individual ego to unite with a tool, movement or character performer can channel the divine through their work. Thank you for listening to rumors, fact and fiction combine into magical and haunting stories. I'm Chandra Madonna's collector and Teller of dark tales and the creator of this podcast in collaboration with bound. A company that helps you grow through stories produced by Aishwarya Azhar will get good and sound designed by other thier Aria. Join me every Friday on this quest into the lesser known side of the subcontinent. Subscribe rate and review for new episodes every week. Sleep safe tonight. Who knows what awaits in the dark?