Theyyam is a Hindu religious ritual practiced in northern Kerala and some parts of Karnataka. Theyyam is also known as Kaḷiyāṭṭaṁ or Tiṟa. Theyyam consists of traditions, rituals and customs associated with temples and sacred groves of Malabar. The people of the region consider Theyyam itself as a channel to a god and they thus seek blessings from Theyyam.
Puliyoor Kali Theyyam at Mathamangalam
Bali Theyyam at Andalurkavu
Theyyam at Muzhappilangad
Face art of Theyyam is one of the best examples of folk painting in Kerala
North Malabar refers to the geographic area of southwest India covering the state of Kerala's present day Kasaragod, Kannur, and Wayanad districts, and the taluks of Vatakara and Koyilandy in the Kozhikode District of Kerala and the entire Mahé Sub-Division of the Union Territory of Puducherry. Traditionally North Malabar has been defined as the northern portion of the erstwhile Malabar District which lies between Chandragiri River and Korapuzha River. The region between Netravathi River and Chandragiri River, which included the portions between Mangalore and Kasaragod, are also often included in the term North Malabar, as the Kumbla dynasty in the southernmost region of Tulu Nadu, had a mixed lineage of Malayali Nairs and Tuluva Brahmins.
Ezhimala was once the headquarters of a powerful ancient kingdom
Ananthapadmanabhaswamy temple at Ananthapura, Kumbla
A portrait of Kannur drawn in 1572, from Georg Braun and Frans Hogenberg's atlas Civitates orbis terrarum, Volume I
Kolattiri Raja's (The ruler of Kannur) minister Kuruppu's Arabic letter to Vasco da Gama (1524)