Untouchable Bodies of Knowledge in the Spirit Possession of Malabar
Paragrana September 1, 2009 John Richardson Freeman
Abstract This article treats the liturgical narratives that bring on spirit possession in the Teyyam worship of northern Kerala for a deity named Poṭṭan, the apotheosis of an Untouchable who is celebrated as having openly contended with the great Śaṅkarācārya over the issue of caste. By tracing the history and stratigraphy of these liturgical materials from their later Sanskritized framing back...