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New Indian Express

A Fiery Entrance

Traditions, no matter how deeply rooted, are not immune to the passage of time. When Kartyayani from Tripunithura challenged social norms to become the first woman to perform Kathakali, where men once played even the female roles, it marked a significant turning point in history. A similar shift occurred when Kalamandalam Girija broke caste and gender barriers to become the first non-Nangiar woman to learn and perform Koodiyattam, an art form once reserved for a select few. These moments of disruption challenged the weight of tradition and rewrote the rules of cultural participation. On July 26, yet another revolution was etched into history when RLV Aryadevi Thiyyadi, a painter and trained Kathakali artist, became the first woman to perform Ayyappan Theeyattu, an ancient ritual art form in Kerala, believed to be around a thousand years old. As the daughter of renowned Ayyappan Thiyyattu artist Theeyadi Raman Nambiar, learning the traditional ritual art form came naturally to RLV Aryadevi. But stepping onto the stage as the first woman to perform was a real challenge. 'This art form was once confined to temple premises. Over time, many related art forms found space outside the temples, but theeyattu remained closed off, especially to women,' she recalls. Aryadevi traces her early exposure to the art back to her family's ancestral home in Mulakunnathukavu, Thrissur, where her father and brothers actively practised and performed Ayyappan Theeyattu. Later, when the family relocated to Kochi due to her father's job, he began contemplating the future of the art. 'He felt a responsibility to pass it on. That is when he started teaching it to the next generation. My brothers were also learning, and I would accompany them. I was just five or six when I began absorbing it without really thinking about the cultural restrictions. I just loved it and continued training for about 15 years,' says Aryadevi.