| Cuisine
A typical Kerala feast, referred to as sadya, is spread out temptingly on a clean green banana leaf. And the food is to be eaten with the fingers. Even the dessert, payasam, that tastes like rice pudding, is served on the leafy plate.
The culinary efforts of the different communities of Kerala come out in distinctly different dishes of great variety. While Hindus specialize in delicious vegetarian food such as sambar, rasam, olan, kaalan, pachadi, kichadi, aviyal, thoran and so on, the Muslims and Christians excel in non vegetarian cuisine. The parthiri, a sort of pancake made of rice flour, and biriyani which is a mouthwatering dish of rice cooked along with meat, onions, chilies and other spices are Muslim culinary delights. Christians have interesting recipes to make an array of fish dishes such as meen pollichathu, fish molee and so on. Christian cookery specially caters to people with a sweet tooth - crunchy kozhalappam, achappam, cheeda, churuttu etc.
A typical Kerala breakfast may be puttu, which is rice powder and grated coconut steam cooked together, idli and sambhar, dosai and chutney, idiappam (string hoppers), or the most delicious of them all, the appam. Appam is a kind of pan cake made of rice flour fermented with a small amount of toddy (fermented sap of the coconut palm), which is circular in shape, rather like a flying saucer, edged with a crisp lacy frill. It is eaten with chicken or vegetable stew. Kanji (rice gruel) and payaru (green gram), kappa (casava) and fish curry are traditional favorites of
Keralites.
Almost every dish prepared in Kerala has coconut and spices added to it - spices such as cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, cloves, garlic cumin, coriander, turmeric etc. Spices are used in Kerala to tone up the system the way wines aid the digestion of western cuisine. The juice of tender coconut - 'world's safest natural soft drink' - is a refreshing nutritious thirst quencher. The staple food of the masses is rice. Kerala cuisine also has a medley of pickles and chutneys. And the crunchy papadams, banana chips and jack chips can give French fries a run for their money any day.
Ayurveda
Kerala's, moist deciduous forests rich in medicinal plants and herbs has made it the home of Ayurveda. Ayurveda is a natural healing system that favors a holistic approach. More than 2000 years old, this unique branch of medicine has curative and restorative powers. It can arrest the degeneration of body cells, provide immunization, ensure longevity, control obesity and beautify the body, in addition to treating a host of ailments, with absolutely no side effects. Ayurveda is indeed the answer of overall fitness.
Kerala is the only State in India which practices this system of medicine with absolute dedication today. Ancient texts reveal that the monsoon is the best season for rejuvenation
programs. The atmosphere remains dust free and cool, opening the pores of the body to the maximum, making it most receptive to herbal oils and therapy. There are a number of noted ayurveda centers and resorts offering Ayurvedic health holiday packages throughout Kerala.
Folk Performing Arts
Kerala has a rich repertoire of folk performing arts, folk songs and folk drama where we observe man's overpowering rapport with nature and his constant desire for communication with the unknown. The tribal people of Kerala who are known as adivasis (the first native people) keep alive a folklore tradition in the ecofriendly life they lead and the natural pharmacy they practise. Theyyam, Thira, Mudiyettu, Kaduvakali, Vetakali, Kakkarassi, Natakom, Chavittunatakam, Margamkali, Kolkali, Parichamutukali, Bhadrakalipattu, Pulluvanpattu, Thiruvathiralali and so on are only a few of Kerala's folk art form, some of them being ritual arts. A ritual art like Theyyam exists in four hundred different forms according to M V Vishnunarayanan Naboothiri, the well known flolktorist. The billiantly painted masks worn by the artists of folk performing arts like Theyyam, Paadayani and so on are fine examples of the crafts of Kerala. The mask and head gear of Theyyam symbolize social consciousness and a sense of morality. The best period to view and enjoy the folk performing arts in Kerala is during the months of January and February, at the time of temple festivals. Both ritual as well as non ritual folk arts are staged in the temple premises as part of the festivals. Classical art forms, especially Kathakali, are also staged in the temple premises during this period.
Kalaripayattu
Kalaripayattu is a comprehensive system of martial arts of Kerala, regarded as one of the oldest and most scientific in the world. It follows a system as specialised and as intricate as the Ju-jitsu of the Japanese. Even Kung-fu is believed to have originated from Kalanpayattu.
Kalari is an academy where training in all kinds of combat is given. The principles of Kalari education stipulate that training in martial arts begins with an oil message of the body which goes on until the body is agile and supple. Feats like chattom (jumping), ottam (running), marichil (somersault) etc. are then taught, followed by lessons in the use of weapons such as the sword, the spear, the mace , the bow and arrow and so on.
Kalaripyattu training aims at the ultimate co-ordination of mind and body. The traditional training in a Kalari includes specialization in indigenous medical practices too. Kalaris are also centres of religious worship. The general guidelines to be followed in Kalaripayattu demand that once the course is complete, a person should undergo oil message and engage in the practice of the fears at least once a year. This will help him to keep in shape and to easily overcome enemy attacks.
|
