Kerala is a land of diverse culture of people from varied ethnic backgrounds and rich history. There are Hindus, Muslims, Christians and people belonging to other religions that live in perfect harmony in this state. Each group of people have their own distinct culture and traditions, which gives them their distinct identity.
They express their distinctness through their culture, festivals, rituals, customs and other such practices. They not only take pride in the culture and tradition and observe it with great sense of dignity, but they are more than happy to share it with others.
This friendly and welcoming nature of theirs bring tourists from all over the world to be part of their social life. Among the population of Kerala, the Christians are a dominant group who have a deep connection with the place.
They form a very important part of the fabric of social life and contribute to the richness of its culture through various customs and rituals of theirs. One such aspect of their culture is Margam Kali, an ancient form of group dance performed mainly by the Saint Thomas Christians or Syrian Christians of Kerala.
There are various theories surrounding the origination of this form of dance. Some says it originated from the Jewish traditional wedding songs whereas some say it came from the Sangam Kali which is a dance performance of the Brahmins,
or Yathra Kali of the Nambhutri Brahmins or the early forms of Thiruvathira Kali. Whatever the theory may be, today it forms a very important custom of the Syrian Christians and they perform it with great pride and grandeur.
In this form of folk dance, there are twelve dancers who participate and they dance around a traditional lamp. These twelve dancers represent the twelve apostles of Christ while the lamp represents the Christ himself. Hence this dance has religious connections as well.
The dancers wear the white dhoti, which is the traditional attire of the Keralites and put a peacock feather in the turban. The word ‘Margam’ means path, way, religion or creed. Some believe that this dance form was used to spread Christianity in Kerala in the olden days.
This dance is performed in a song that is sung orally by the leader of the group called ‘Asan’. There aren’t any instruments used and is sung in a language that incorporates both old Tamil and Malayalam.
The text of the song narrates the various activities of St. Thomas in that region and his martyrdom. The song is a very important part of the dance and plays a major role in the completion of the act.
Along with the song and dance, the performance also includes display of martial arts. Today this performance has become a very important part of the weddings and other occasions of the Syrian Christians in Kerala.
Traditionally it was only performed by men, however these days it is performed by both men and women and even children. It displays the richness of the culture of the Syrian Christians of Kerala.
