The spirit worship of Bhūta and Daiva is prevalent in the coastal area in South Karnataka. Since medieval times, this region has also been called Tuḷuva or Tuḷunāḍu as it is home to speakers of Tuḷu, forming a unique cultural zone. This paper analyzes the present situation of Bhūta and Daiva worship under social change in the local context and examines the relationship bewteen ritual and kingship in the village. The main topic is the study of changing cosmology created by the memory of past kingship through oral tradition. Bhūta rituals consist of socio-cultural complex and rich oral traditions. This study describes the ritual procedure, folk concepts of cosmology, phases of spirit possession, and process of long dance sequence. It also analyzes the contents of pāḍdana, narrative invocations recited only during the ritual process, as part of the case study of a small village in Baṇṭval Tāluk.
In general, Bhūta and Daiva rituals of South Karnataka are connected to Teyyam ritual of North Kerala. They share the same elements and structure such as the type of mediators, make-up worn by impersonators, ritual sequence, oracles by spirit possession, ornamentation, and dance; however, Bhūta rituals tend to lead to fierce and strong trances. We compare each ritual to clarify their common features and differences from the perspectives of history and locality.
In recent years, Bhūta rituals have undergone a significant transformation to folk performance in some areas; therefore, we take account of the phase of modernization and globalization in this area.
This study analyzes the cosmology of Bhūta and Daiva, focusing on the change of Bhūta rituals, and discusses the functions and meanings of pāḍdana, narrative invocations, on the basis of fieldwork conducted since 1993.
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