our valluvanad was one of the final frontiers for western civilization. A land of immense beauty inhabited by people with strange traditions and practices which could at best be called Paganism . Hinduism which used to be practiced here identified itself more with the plethora of indigenous beliefs than with the Vedas. Though Tippu Sultan’s invasion and the subsequent British rule did expose us to the world outside , we remained in our small universe happy and content. Hence till the 1970s most of this region was untouched by modernity therefore unlike the rest of Kerala we still have Tharavads , sacred grooves called pambin kavu , velichapad and of course the rich mythology inherited from our ancestors . Odiyan and the stories associated with it is a major part of our folklore .
odiyan were the professional assassins (yes!) hired by landowning nair/ ezhava families to kill members of the families whom they thought were their rivals . Being an agrarian society most of the rivalries had to do with land disputes . The succession issues with in the families were also settled in this manner. Odiyans hailed from panar,pulayar and choklear communities (untouchable castes) . People belonging to these casts were well known for their physical stamina and was feared for their worship of tribal deities which were considered more powerful than the local gods and goddesses. It was believed that DURMANTRAVATAM (Bad rituals and practices) gave them powers which could be matched only by a seasoned MANTRIKAN (powerful magicians).
As the folklore goes , the odiyans used to apply an oil obtained from killed human fetus on their ear . This was supposed to give them powers to assume forms that they desired. They never changed into the forms or object they intended to be, but created a sensory illusion on his prey. Odiyan would assume the shape of a bull or a cat or even rocks and lay on the route that the victim routinely uses at night .when the victim approaches he would transform instantly and kills the prey within seconds .
The question that popped in my mind was , why go to such lengths to kill someone if he could be stabbed or shot like the assassins do these days. The reasons told by my grandmother were :
1.Most of the able bodied men at the time had kalari training from a young age hence it would have been difficult to over power them other than through a ruse.
2. The operations were covert so the people who arrange the assassin did not want themselves to get involved in the mess.
3. Odiyans were experts in disposing off their victims , leaving no trace .
The tactic used to over power the victims was the element of surprise . The odiyans may take the form of a bull but there might be some sort of deformity to it . For example it might appear three-legged or tailless which could amuse the onlooker and would make him go for a closer examination . This gives the odiyan enough time to mount an attack and kill the prey as he approaches . unfortunately these deformed bodies could be their undoing . A seasoned mantrikan or a Tharavad elder could easily recognize the anomalies the odiyan mounts on the senses and act accordingly to uncover the bluff. There is a story about a well known mantrikan who was returning home at night when he encountered two bulls . He soon realized the trap , pronouncing some spells to counter the odiyan and overpower his charm , the mantrikan tied the two bulls together and took them to a riverine nearby and washed their ears . With the oil washed off they retook their human forms and begged the mantrikan for forgiveness.
The illusionary power of odiyan comes from the oil they apply on their ear. It was derived from the amniotic fluid of an unborn human fetus. The targets were young women during their first pregnancy. Odiyans like any pulaya or pana men of the time worked as serfs at large tharavads. During the day time while at work they would identify their victim and mark her off with a sign which would be inscribed on the walls of the tharavad . At night , the pulaya or pana would return as odiyan and using his spells make the woman walk unconsciously in her sleep to a predetermined spot where the he would be waiting for her . The woman would be split open with sharpened knifes made of bamboo and the fetus taken out . The fetus is then from a bamboo pole to harvest the fluid while the woman would walk back home to her room where she would bleed to death.The amount of oil obtained would be only a few drops but it could last for a handful of odi tricks.
The history of Malabar is obscure before the advent of the British . The odiyan belief could have its roots in the tamilakam period of Kerala history when tribal practices played a major part in religious beliefs of the people. Sangam literature talks about a magical force that resides in all objects – living or non living called ANANKU . During that period panans and parayas (who were the untouchables then too) were enthrusted with rites and rituals to appease the ananku . A person with uncontained ananku was considered powerful , making the guardians of ananku dreaded beings . The concept of odiyan taking up different forms could be attributed to the presence of ananku in all beings. Like many of the sangam traditions ananku might have metamorphised into the whole odiyan tradition over time. But unlike most of the tamil practices which became part of vedic religion it remained in the fringes , away from brahmanical strong holds hidden in the foothills of western ghats.
Valluvanad still believes in Odiyan and there are many deaths that are attributed to odiyan seva ( even one case was reported last month) . But in reality, With the modern education, the western lifestyle and more importantly the emancipation of panars and pulayars there are no takers for the job. More over their patrons found new ways to settle disputes and the odiyan died out without revealing many of its secrets like many other Indian traditions.
odiyan were the professional assassins (yes!) hired by landowning nair/ ezhava families to kill members of the families whom they thought were their rivals . Being an agrarian society most of the rivalries had to do with land disputes . The succession issues with in the families were also settled in this manner. Odiyans hailed from panar,pulayar and choklear communities (untouchable castes) . People belonging to these casts were well known for their physical stamina and was feared for their worship of tribal deities which were considered more powerful than the local gods and goddesses. It was believed that DURMANTRAVATAM (Bad rituals and practices) gave them powers which could be matched only by a seasoned MANTRIKAN (powerful magicians).
The powers
As the folklore goes , the odiyans used to apply an oil obtained from killed human fetus on their ear . This was supposed to give them powers to assume forms that they desired. They never changed into the forms or object they intended to be, but created a sensory illusion on his prey. Odiyan would assume the shape of a bull or a cat or even rocks and lay on the route that the victim routinely uses at night .when the victim approaches he would transform instantly and kills the prey within seconds .
The question that popped in my mind was , why go to such lengths to kill someone if he could be stabbed or shot like the assassins do these days. The reasons told by my grandmother were :
1.Most of the able bodied men at the time had kalari training from a young age hence it would have been difficult to over power them other than through a ruse.
2. The operations were covert so the people who arrange the assassin did not want themselves to get involved in the mess.
3. Odiyans were experts in disposing off their victims , leaving no trace .
The tactic used to over power the victims was the element of surprise . The odiyans may take the form of a bull but there might be some sort of deformity to it . For example it might appear three-legged or tailless which could amuse the onlooker and would make him go for a closer examination . This gives the odiyan enough time to mount an attack and kill the prey as he approaches . unfortunately these deformed bodies could be their undoing . A seasoned mantrikan or a Tharavad elder could easily recognize the anomalies the odiyan mounts on the senses and act accordingly to uncover the bluff. There is a story about a well known mantrikan who was returning home at night when he encountered two bulls . He soon realized the trap , pronouncing some spells to counter the odiyan and overpower his charm , the mantrikan tied the two bulls together and took them to a riverine nearby and washed their ears . With the oil washed off they retook their human forms and begged the mantrikan for forgiveness.
The oil
The illusionary power of odiyan comes from the oil they apply on their ear. It was derived from the amniotic fluid of an unborn human fetus. The targets were young women during their first pregnancy. Odiyans like any pulaya or pana men of the time worked as serfs at large tharavads. During the day time while at work they would identify their victim and mark her off with a sign which would be inscribed on the walls of the tharavad . At night , the pulaya or pana would return as odiyan and using his spells make the woman walk unconsciously in her sleep to a predetermined spot where the he would be waiting for her . The woman would be split open with sharpened knifes made of bamboo and the fetus taken out . The fetus is then from a bamboo pole to harvest the fluid while the woman would walk back home to her room where she would bleed to death.The amount of oil obtained would be only a few drops but it could last for a handful of odi tricks.
The history of Malabar is obscure before the advent of the British . The odiyan belief could have its roots in the tamilakam period of Kerala history when tribal practices played a major part in religious beliefs of the people. Sangam literature talks about a magical force that resides in all objects – living or non living called ANANKU . During that period panans and parayas (who were the untouchables then too) were enthrusted with rites and rituals to appease the ananku . A person with uncontained ananku was considered powerful , making the guardians of ananku dreaded beings . The concept of odiyan taking up different forms could be attributed to the presence of ananku in all beings. Like many of the sangam traditions ananku might have metamorphised into the whole odiyan tradition over time. But unlike most of the tamil practices which became part of vedic religion it remained in the fringes , away from brahmanical strong holds hidden in the foothills of western ghats.
what happened to them
IN DETAIL
ODIYAN
Early time of Kerala was a misery. A time when its wealth were drained by the English, a time when it exported the enormous amount of spices to other country, a time where people used a burning bunch of dry coconut leaves as their torch, a time when only high caste people where allowed to wear or wrap a cloth around their upper body others where allowed only to wear dhotis, a time where few women, mainly belonging to low schedule caste, wore nothing to cover their breasts, a time when upper caste ruled others, it was time of late 1930’s, TIME OF ODIYAN.
Odiyan, is a Malayalam word which depicts a person whose looks are not known and who kills people by changing his appearances. Who is like a hit-man who can run over you and kill you and you would never even know what came and hit you. It was believed that people who were killed mysteriously in those days were actually killed by Odiyan. It was not advised to walk outside during late nights because Odiyan would kill you. It was also believed that Odiyan can see anything during nights like what you see in mornings. He had a special mix for this technique. It is said that the tiny embryo of a woman who is conceiving it in her early days of pregnancy is taken out leaving her to bear the pain and that embryo is hung on a sacred tree for days. They place a coconut shell underneath it. As days pass, the embryo starts getting dry and it gives out a liquid, which gets collected into the coconut shell drop by drop. This man, takes that liquid and would paint it around his eyes which gives him the power of vision during nights. He would kill you in any form. He would come as your wife and kill you. You will walk on the road suddenly you see a big rock lying down. You would jump across it and the rock raise automatically and hit you. Living or Non-living, people feared everything around them. His killing was raising and people complained it to their tham-bu-ran or the king.
“Tham-bu-rane’” a man with bare chest came running and stood near the steps that went into the king’s kott-aa-ram, the palace.
“What it is?” Vidyadhar came and asked. Vidyadhar was a man among the king’s men.
“Maniyan…he…he…” the man bursts into tears.
“What it is?” this time Vidyadhar said it loud hearing which the king, Shankaran Verma came out. The king was a tall bearded fellow. He came and sat on his chair and asked, “Why is this man crying?” the man was looking down as he belonged to backward caste he was not allowed to see the king face to face.
“Lord… Maniyan, my brother died yesterday.” He said.
“How?”
“Odiyan!” the man said still weeping. Shankaran Verma rested his head on the back of his chair. He looked above at his ceiling. He was been irritated by the death rates. His father believed in Odiyan and thus didn’t take any efforts to find him but his son Shankaran Verma was adamant in finding Odiyan as he never believed in superstitious things. That is mainly because he spent most of his time with his British friends.
“ODIYAN…ODIYAN…ODIYAN… Enough of this stupid thing. Isn’t there any mean to stop this?” Shankaran asked irritated.
“If an Odiyan plans to kill, nobody could stop him.” Vidyadhar said. Shankaran rose angrily and said, “I don’t believe in Odiyan. How was your brother killed?” Shankaran asked the man. The man raised his head and within seconds, he looked down and said, “He was crossing the small bridge and he was found lying down underneath it dead.
“He would have fallen and died.” Shankaran said and interrupting him the man said, “It was not that deep, it’s barely a 3 year old kid’s height. Also there were no scratches on him”
“How can you say that he was killed by Odiyan?”
“People heard him crying loud, Odiyan!
Vidyadhar was late one night. He had some work in the palace and it was late night. He was standing near the steps and was firing his bunch of coconut leaves.
“Going home, lord?” Asked the palace cleaner who was cleaning his feet with water.
“Yes,” Vidyadhar said.
“Careful sir, you might find one Odiyan.” He said and smiled.
Vidyadhar walked briskly and his fire lamp gave him little light. He was walking through a field. His heart was rising hard. He was sweating. Odiyan fear was killing him. Slowly he was not walking but running. Suddenly he felt as if someone is pulling his dhoti from down. He shouted and took his fire lamp near to the side of dhoti and saw that it was stuck on one plant’s big leaf. “AH..” he breathed a sigh of relief. He took his dhoti and tied it. He took his fire lamp near to his face and he saw another face painted in red and blue standing before him. “AAAAAAAA….” He shouted and before he could guess, it was gone.
“Guruvayoor appa, save me.” he said softly. He walked slowly with caution. Every time he would turn back and see if anything is wrong or not. He saw a light coming from far away. He was relieved, as he knew that someone else is also coming. He saw the palace cleaner coming with a fire lamp.
“Lord, you still here. You should have been to your home by now.” he said and looked down.
“Oh… thank god you came. I think I saw Odiyan.” Vidyadhar said.
“Don’t worry lord; he won’t hit us because we are two. He hits only people who are alone.” The cleaner said. They both started walking and in distance, they heard a women crying loud.
“What was that?” Vidyadhar asked panicky.
“Nothing sir, I thing a woman is giving birth.” He said to which Vidyadhar said “This loud?”
“It’s really painful when a woman gives birth to a child my lord.” The cleaner said. “Yes.. yes… stay close to me.” Vidyadhar said.
“Sir, have you ever screamed in pain?” the cleaner was talkative. Vidyadhar knew it.
“Yes, one time when I fell into a dry well.”
“But you won’t scream now.” The cleaner said and pressed Vidydhar’s neck. “What…are…you…do..doing?” Vidyadhar asked. The cleaner slowly changed into King, then like Vidyadhar’s wife then like a horse and was continuously changing like people and animals. Vidyadhar gasped for air. He tried to hit the cleaner with the fire but nothing happened. “SQEEEEEEEKKKKKKK,” the man who was pressing Vidyadhar’s neck cried. The sound was unbearable for Vidyadhar. His eyes were slowly closing and at final stage Vidyadhar saw a face with so many bruises and also which was painted red and blue. Vidyadhar was dead and no one stood near him. Just a breeze of cold air wrapped the dead body. Odiyan was there.
Death of Vidyadhar was shocking news for the king. He was sitting on his chair and his room was filled with other eminent members of the palace. Shankaran looked at his uncle Madhavan and said “What are we facing uncle? This is the twelfth death caused by Odiyan in our village.”
“Nearby villagers are also scared to come to our village.” A man told.
“I think we have no solution for this. Let it go the way it is going. Someday it would end.” Madhavan gave the most irresponsible answer.
“What? Let it go? You want this stupid thing called Odiyan to continue its scary thing?” Shankaran asked.
“DON’T CALL IT STUPID!” Madhavan yelled at Shankaran, “Let me tell you one thing my son, I appreciate that you don’t believe in superstitious things but also learn to understand that there is something in this world which is above reality. A king like you not believing in superstitious things is rare in this period, that doesn’t make you to know everything in this world. There is something called black magic and its existence are proved by many. Believe it or not, Odiyan is real.” Madhavan said.
“I won’t believe uncle and I am sorry to say this.” Shankaran said and turned towards his one of the men and said, “Announce in the village that whoever knows how Odiyan looks and would give his details would get 50 gold coins. I am not going to leave this guy called Odiyan like that.” Shankaran said and rose to leave.
“Your fate is decided my son, stop acting foolish and start believing.” His uncle said.
“Thank you, uncle. I would rather believe in me.” Shankaran said and left the room.
After that, so many people came and reported about Odiyan. Some said he is tall black guy with red eyes, some said he has a tail which is pointed and which can strangle you to death. Some said he is like a child but deadly child. Shankaran believed none.
Shankaran was sleeping in his big room. His bed was near to the window. He placed it there so that he can sleep through the hot nights. He was dead sleep when he felt a chill. He opened his eyes and saw cool wind blowing from his window. He sat, rubbed his eyes and looked outside. It was as usual dark night. He again slept. Little later he heard sound of chain being dragged somewhere. He sat and looked out. Near to his room, outside, the palace’s elephant was tied. Tonight there stood no elephant as it was sent to nearby village’s temple. “Whose it?” Shankaran asked. There was no answer and the sound of the chain stopped. Wind is not that strong to move a chain thought Shankaran and slept again. Again, he heard a sound of chain been dragged. Shankaran rose and went outside to see what was happening. He came near the place where chain was kept. He saw a small girl and her legs been tied with this big chain. The girl had long hairs and looked cute and beautiful.
“What happened?” Shankaran came and released her from the chain. The girl smiled at him. “Where are your parents dear?” Shankaran asked but the girl again smiled. Shankaran looked into her twinkling eyes. She pushed Shankaran and started yelling “Believe…believe…believe...Believe...” she said the same thing and ran into darkness. Shankaran got up and ran behind her but couldn’t find her anywhere. He turned back and saw the elephant’s chain missing. Shankaran closed his eyes in shock and when he opened it, he was sitting on his bed. Was it a dream or reality? Shankaran was confused.
Next day the whole palace was been crowded hearing the news that the king had an encounter with someone. Everybody believed that it was Odiyan but Shankaran was firm that it was nothing but a dream.
“I told you to believe Odiyan,” Madhavan said.
“That was just a dream uncle.” Shankaran said.
“It was reality my son. Reality.” Madhavan said firmly.
“If Odiyan is that real ask him to come and kill me.” Shankaran said and left the room.
“Bhagavathiye, kaathu kolli-d-namme” Madhavan prayed God.
That night Shankaran was sleepless. Even though he was firm that there is nothing called Odiyan still his heart raced. He ate jackfruit. He cut it into pieces and ate it. It was late night and he was feeling sleepy now. He took his bed-sheet, wrapped around himself, and slept. Little later, he started feeling hot. He tried to get the bed sheet off but somehow he could not. He threw it down and it would fly back and would wrap automatically around him. This time he feared. Slowly the bed sheet started wrapping itself around Shankaran’s neck. It started strangling him. He gasped for air. Both the end of the bed sheet was pulling its side. Shankaran’s face started sweating. He turned around and saw the knife which he used for cutting jack fruit lay at his side. He took the knife and stared cutting the bed sheet near his neck. He cut it so furiously that the bed sheet tore into two pieces. His neck was released. He rubbed it and saw the two pieces of bed sheet lying down. He sat on his bed. “Odiyan…” he whispered slowly. He went into his uncle’s room. He woke his uncle and said the whole thing that happened. They both went into Shankaran’s room to see the bed sheet and to their surprise they saw the bed sheet neatly folded and kept on the bed.
“Son, Odiyan is here.” Don’t sleep today. Be ready to face anything. Okay?” Madhavan warned him and went out. Madhavan said this and started walking towards the door. When he reached the door he looked at Shankaran and said, “Goodbye!” and went. Shankaran was confused about why he said Goodbye. When he came near the door, he looked out to check whether his uncle has gone or not. His legs and half of body were inside the room and the other half outside peeping, to check uncle. The door besides him shut in force, squeezing him between. He was dying. The door opened and Shankaran fell down. He head was smashed. His jaws were been displaced. He broke his hand and was lying around his blood. He turned and saw a shadow approaching him. He raised his head and saw his uncle Madhavan smiling. “SQEEEEEEKKKKKKKKK” Madhavan made a sound and within seconds he turned into cat and ran out. Little later everyone in the palace came running. He saw his uncle Madhavan wearing a different dhoti running towards him.
“Son…. What happened?”
“Odiyan… he was here.”Shankar said and died.
Present, 2012
Ram a middle aged man was reading a book about Odiyan. It was late night and he lived alone in his house. He was sitting in his verandah and was deep into his reading, it was raining outside. When he completed his book, he placed the book down and looked straight. He saw a small girl playing with rain drops before him. She had longs hairs and a cute smile.
THE END
In those days people didn’t have much knowledge about cause of deaths which happened around them. A guy would have seen a shadow of a dry banana leaf hanging which would look like a man’s shadow sometimes. In that shock he may die and the story of Odiyan comes out.
Heart attacks, small falls, Asthma were some main cause of death in those days but due to some of them die mysteriously, story of Odiyan comes out from there. The above is also just a story of how people died, but these are just stories which had no proofs and no one to prove. Slowly when people got knowledge about diseases and other things, Odiyan Vanished!!!!!
Or just went for a long holiday and would come back soon!
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