Dharmadam, a socio-cultural enclave

It was as part of the project entry for the Annual NASA Design Competition (ANDC), that I visited Kannur in June 2016, along with my friends. Being an architecture student, the ANDC Trophy was the most glorious one, winning which was even beyond our dreams. On being given the task of conceiving a unique representation of a city, we chose to showcase the essence of folk culture, using the symbols and colours of Theyyam, an indigenous art form of Kerala. The idea came from one of us who had a buzz about Theyyam. And thus we set out to Kannur, the land of Theyyams.

The first two days we roamed about in Kannur and Kasargode, visiting temples where Theyyam is performed and conducting discussions with Architect Syam Kumar, an alumni of our college, but remained clueless of what we where searching for. We had not come across anything that had so much off essence to evoke thoughts or something that we could deeply study on. Yet we had fun eating and playing carroms at our friend's house in Kannur. Thanks to her parents for bearing up with a bunch of people like us. We had no need to bother about food, travel and accommodation. We also visited a typical Naalukettu, a courtyard house of traditional Kerala architecture. It was dark and dusty, predominantly occupied by bats and rats. The rooms were small and of low height, surrounding a central courtyard. Bats flew here and there in the attic and the place generated some sort of fear within me.

The next day we set out to Thalasseri, the land of three C's, circus, cake and cricket. We went to meet K. K. Marar Sir, an artist and historian, whom we thought could provide us ideas to ponder on. Anyone meeting him for the first time would be well impressed by his character, lifestyle and his house, which he himself built brick by brick. The house has a cozy ambience and his huge collection of antiques from various places astonished us. And meeting him was nothing less than a turning point for us. On explaining the project and our aim, we came to know from him about Dharmadam, an island in Kannur. The more he talked about Dharmadom, the more we started realising that Dharmadom was more than what we wanted.  With that joy of accomplishing the search for a site, we started our journey to Dharmadom.

 Dharmadom is surrounded by water, the Arabian sea on one side and the Anjarakkandi river that bifurcates on the other sides. From what we knew we had no doubt where to go first. Andalloor Kavu, a temple there where the annual Theyyam festival takes place, was the core generator of all the activities taking place in Dharmadom. The temple seemed familiar to us as we remembered a scene from the malayalam movie, Thattathin Marayathu. The shading banyan trees in the premises, the stepped well, and the dual shrines are things that come first to my mind when I think of Andalloor Kavu. The oil lamps being lit up for the vespers created a warm vibe.

Andalloor Kavu

Andalloor Kavu

Temple pond at Andalloor Kavu

As it started getting dark, we couldn't conduct any study. So we headed off to the Dharmadom beach, where we had most of the fun. This calm and serene beach with its laterite rocks formed the backdrop

for the photography session, the inevitable part of all our trips.  We could see the Dharmadom thuruthu(islet), also known as the crow island, from there. It was previously part of Dharmadom and got drifted away gradually. The fact that there exists a fresh water well in the islet, in spite of the sea encircling it, amazed me. A tiny creature(which I don't know) made beautiful patterns in the sand by its movement.  Cool breezes embraced us and the sun started setting down leaving us with hope, dreams and memories. The government intervention there with the typical green roofed structures built by the Kerala Tourism Department, serves as the venue for the Island Carnival festival conducted annually in December.

Dharmadom beach and the islet

The next day we again went to Dharmadom seeking for more. That day we also had this enthusiasm of travelling by cars. We met this amazing person, Vijayan Sir, who was a teacher and a local social worker. His energetic and simple character, knowledge and hospitality surprised us. He explained to us each and every aspect of Dharmadom with so much of energy and enthusiasm and even had the dedication to prepare a detailed written report for us, whom he had met for the first time. Hats off to his respectful personality. At noon, we passed by the famous Government Brennen College, which was located in Dharmadom. We again visited Andalloor Kavu for collecting details and analysing the context. We also met Balakrishnan Sir, a former Panchayath member to collect more details.

From all the information that we gathered, we clearly understood that Dharmadom had a unique historical, social, cultural and political background. We were inspired by the way Andalloor Kavu and Theyyam encapsulates lives in Dharmadom. The hospitality of the people there is also praiseworthy. This can be seen in the way they treat guests during the festival. The influence of Buddhism and the notion of ahimsa can be seen in their lifestyle. Though it is a coastal region where fish is the prominent food, during the festival, all the people there irrespective of their religion, become vegetarians. The process of cleansing one's mind also reflects through activities like white-washing houses, buying new utensils and other household items, cooking food outside the house in a temporary structure and so on. The annual Theyyam festival, conducted by the four prominent families there, generates employment to many in each stage. The functions, processes and activities taking place there have stories to tell. This trip helped us to study about a unique setting and its culture. And to top it all, we visited the Muzhuppilangad drive-in beach. We had so much fun running in the beach and playing in the water. The headlights of the cars lit up the sundown and we had to return. We were making memories! Even after I returned home, I was in the hangover of the trip for a few days. We had a handful of beautiful memories and a special bond existed among the group members.

In the project, we redesigned the island with Andalloor Kavu as the focal point and translated the design into the vocabulary of Theyyam symbols and colours. Our design could bring spotlight on Theyyam and this helped us in bagging the citation for the trophy. I am ever grateful to this place not only for bringing us glory at the national level, but also for giving us wonderful experiences and eternal memories. Dharmadom always has a special connection with us, which is beyond words. I'm sure it has a role to play in each one of our lives.