Taking the liberty to share a post by (fellow Delhiite) Vijayan Punnathur: Delighted to have attended a lecture on the topic Theyyam Ritual As Continuity: Annapoorneswaris Worlds by Pepita Seth at India Habitat Centre (IHC), New Delhi today (Saturday evening). Her lecture dwelt upon the mythology, rituals, practices, the raw life, the local beliefs, the bonhomie that exists between the higher caste and lower caste Hindus as also between Hindus and Muslims of the region, especially in matters pertaining to Theyyam. For the past seven years, she is working on a detailed book on Theyyam, which I am sure will be a ‘magnum opus’, as I am fully aware of the painstaking efforts, sincerity and devotion she puts in this project. I cherish the fond memories of the interaction I had with her in the past few years. To give a brief introduction of her, (though she has almost become a household name in Kerala), Pepita Seth who was born in Suffolk, East of England, UK, in a family of farmers, is a malayali, perhaps even more than the native malayalis, because of her selfless love, affection, admiration and respect to our culture and traditions. The incident behind Pepita’s arrival to India and Kerala is interesting. Pepitas maternal great grandfather was a soldier who served in the army in the British India. Pepita who was working as an editor and photographer in England chanced upon the diary of her grandfather and decided to trace his trails with the British Army and document the movements and landed in Kolkata, in 1970. The journey from Kolkata ended in Guruvayur where she became fascinated by the temple arts and rituals of Kerala. For the next nine years, she visited Kerala several times and, in 1979, she found a home and settled in Thrissur. Though, at first, she was denied entry to the Guruvayur Temple, her persistence made the Guruvayur Devaswom Board to relent and she remains the only foreigner to be granted entry to the Temple. Pepita Seth has extensively covered the rituals and temples of Kerala through her photographs. Her photographs of the elephant, Guruvayur Keshavan have been published in many magazines and journals including the New York Times and the Guardian. It is generally believed that Pepitas photographs of the rituals and temple arts of Kerala have immensely helped in promoting the image of Kerala as a tourist destination. Her monumental work titled “HEAVEN ON EARTH: THE UNIVERSE OF KERALAS GURUVAYUR TEMPLE” takes us into the heart of this complex universe, chronicling the temple’s myth and history, describing its rituals and beliefs, its traditional style of management, its festivals and patronage of Kerala’s ancient art forms, its elephants and, of course, the beliefs of all those who worship within its precincts. It is a book made possible both by the trust and willingness of people, including the temple priests, to share their knowledge, and by author-photographer Pepita Seth’s commitment to the project and her determination to represent the scope of the temple’s world. This remarkable and unique record is the outcome of 7 years of careful research enhanced by sensitive photographs that not only portray all aspects of life within the temple, but its atmosphere of intangible divinity. Her other works include The Divine Frenzy – Hindu Myths and Rituals of Kerala which is an account of the spiritual and practical relationship of the people of Kerala with the deities. It attempts to depict, with text and images, the various rituals associated with Hinduism in Kerala.
Posted on: Sun, 05 Oct 2014 04:43:41 +0000
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