Margamkali-Christian Art form of Kerala

Margamkali is a ritual folk art of the Syrian Christians of Kottayam district of Kerala.It is a testimony of the direct inspiration of the indigenous culture of Kerala society on Christianity.Twelve dancers mostly women sing and dance in circles around a Nilavilakku or lighted lamp.The song narrates the life of St Thomas,the apostle,his travels and his death in fourteen padams.It takes a striking turn with a martial play(an influence of Kalaripayattu) of artificial swords and shields.There is no accompaniment of instruments for this dance form.It was mainly developed by the Christian community to propagate ,understand and comprehend the christian messages.Many traces its origin to earlier dates and the oldest songs has the influence of Tamil language.But it developed as a popular art form only with the coming of Europeans. Its western style of music and use of modern Malayalam shows that its orgin might have been around 17C during the time of the Portuguese.Father Anjilimoottil Ittithoman Kathanar (17C) is has done great services to propagate this art form.Subaltern arts like Velakali,Pulikali etc have also influenced this folk art