Most 'Authentic' Myth: Subaltern Orality and Hindutva Textualization.
The study is based on an ethnographic observation of the Kaliyattamukku region of Malappuram district, where a famous celebration of regional importance called Kaliyattam occurs annually. Kaliyattam, noted for the syncretic practices embedded in it, was once identified as a Dalit festival but has acquired ubiquitous popularity recently. Among the Dalits of the region, there exists a hitherto unrecorded folksong, which is peculiar as it narrativizes the friendship between a Muslim saint and the deity of the regional Kavu, where this celebration takes place. My ethnographic observation in the area shows that the song and the other syncretic practices associated with it have resulted in several contestations among different interest groups and formed stratified and mutually incoherent 'myths' behind the establishment of Kavu, thus leading to an internal debate over the most 'authentic' version. My study tailors this regional scenario with a national-level phenomenon noted by scholars as 'hinduization' and argues that the orality of the subaltern is under the threat of being assimilated and needs methodological innovations. The process of 'hinduization,' as this paper shows, includes a process of textualization where the orality of the subaltern is appropriated and re-presented in textual forms. In due process, Hindutva not only subsumes a rich oeuvre of subaltern orality but also exploits the methodological prominence given to the textuality over orality in their attempt to create a solemn Hindu identity imbued with an antagonistic relationship with Muslim others. Given that, this paper further argues that the methodological conventions in academia regarding orality and textuality have permeated the popular spheres of life, thus resulting in an epistemological upper hand for textual Hinduism over the local forms of non-textualized beliefs.
