Gulikan

Gulikan is a deity of death and time worshipped in the Theyyam tradition of north Malabar, in the Kannur and Kasaragod districts of Kerala and adjoining parts of coastal Karnataka. He is understood in local tradition as a form or agent of Yama, the lord of death, and his name links him to Gulika of the astrological tradition, the shadowy son of Saturn whose period, gulika kala, is reckoned inauspicious for all undertakings. In Gulikan the calendar's daily portion of dread is given a face and a cult.

The tradition

Folk accounts of his origin associate him with Shiva; in one widely told version he sprang from the god's foot, born to execute death's office in the world. He is a boundary deity in the deepest sense, standing between the living and their appointed end, and he is propitiated precisely for that reason: honoured, devotees hold, he wards off untimely death and misfortune from the household and the village.

The Theyyam

Gulikan is embodied in an imposing Theyyam performed in the kavus, the shrine-groves of north Malabar, by hereditary performing communities. The rite follows the Theyyam pattern: songs recounting the deity's origin, elaborate costume and make-up, and the dance through which the performer becomes the god, blesses the assembly and speaks with devotees. Families sponsor his Theyyam in fulfilment of vows, particularly where illness or death has pressed close.