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{{short description|Ritual folk dance and divination from India}}
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{{Use Indian English|date=February 2017}}
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[[File:Dancer's Headpiece in the Form of a Panjurli Bhuta (boar spirit deity) LACMA M.2005.49a-b (2 of 3).jpg|thumb|Dancer's headpiece in the form of Panjurli (boar spirit deity), [[LACMA]] 18th century C.E.]]

'''Buta Kola''' is an Animist form of Spirit worship from the coastal districts of [[Tulu Nadu]] and some parts of [[malenadu]] of [[Karnataka]] and [[Kasargod]] in Northern [[Kerala]], [[India]]. The dance is highly stylized and held in honor of the local deities worshiped by the [[Tulu people|Tulu]] speaking population. It has influenced [[Yakshagana]] folk theatre. Buta Kola is closely related to [[Theyyam]] from neighbouring [[Malayalam]] speaking populations.

== Definition ==

The Word is derived from ''būta'' ([[Tulu language|Tulu]] for ‘spirit’, ‘deity’; in turn derived from Sanskrit भूत for ‘free elements’,'which is purified','fit','proper', ‘true’,'past','creatures'; Anglicized: ''‘bhuta’, ‘bhoota’, ‘bootha’'') and ''kōla'' ([[Tulu language|Tulu]] for ‘play, performance, festival’).

A ''būta kōla'' or ''nema'' is typically an annual ritual performance where local spirits or deities (''būtas, daivas'') are being channelised by ritual specialists from certain scheduled castes such as the Nalike, Pambada, or Parawa communities. The ''būta'' cult is prevalent among the non-Brahmin
[[Tuluvas]] of [[Tulu Nadu]] region .<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal|last=Brückner|first=Heidrun|year=1987|title=Bhuta Worship in Coastal Karnataka: An Oral Tulu Myth and Festival Ritual of Jumadi|journal=Studien zur Indologie und Iranistik |volume=13/14|pages=17–37}}</ref><ref name=":6">{{Cite journal|last=Brückner|first=Heidrun|year=1992|title=Dhumavati-Bhuta" An Oral Tulu-Text Collected in the 19th Century. Edition, Translation, and Analysis.|journal=Studien zur Indologie und Iranistik |volume=13/14|pages=13–63}}</ref><ref name=":7">{{Cite book|title=Fürstliche Fest: Text und Rituale der Tuḷu-Volksreligion an der Westküste Südindiens.|last=Brückner|first=Heidrun|publisher=Harrassowitz|year=1995|location=Wiesbaden|pages=199–201}}</ref><ref name=":8">{{Cite book|title=On an Auspicious Day, at Dawn … Studies in Tulu Culture and Oral Literature|last=Brückner|first=Heidrun|publisher=Harrassowitz|year=2009a|location=Wiesbaden}}</ref><ref name=":9">{{Cite book|title="Der Gesang von der Büffelgottheit" in Wenn Masken Tanzen – Rituelles Theater und Bronzekunst aus Südindien edited by Johannes Beltz|last=Brückner|first=Heidrun|publisher=Rietberg Museum|year=2009b|location=Zürich|pages=57–64}}</ref> The word ''kōla'' is conventionally reserved for the worship of a single spirit whereas a ''nēma'' involves the channelising of several spirits in hierarchical order.<ref name=":10">{{Cite book|title=Behind the Text. Performance and Ideology in a Tulu Oral Tradition. In Oral Epics in India edited by Stuart H. Blackburn, Peter J. Claus, Joyce B. Flueckiger and Susan S. Wadley|last=Claus|first=Peter|publisher=University of California Press|year=1989|location=Berkeley|pages=64}}</ref> In ''kōlas'' and ''nēmas'' family and village disputes are referred to the spirit for mediation and adjudication.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title=Behind the Text. Performance and Ideology in a Tulu Oral Tradition. In Oral Epics in India edited by Stuart H. Blackburn, Peter J. Claus, Joyce B. Flueckiger and Susan S. Wadley|last=Claus|first=Peter|publisher=University of California Press|year=1989|location=Berkeley|pages=67}}</ref> In feudal times, the justice aspect of the ritual included matters of political justice, such as the legitimation of political authority, as well as aspects of distributive justice. The produce of land directly owned by the ''būta'' (commons) as well as certain contributions from the leading manors was redistributed among the villagers.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Ishii|first=Miho|year=2015|title=Wild Sacredness and the Poiesis of Transactional Networks: Relational Divinity and Spirit Possession in the Būta Ritual of South India.|journal=Asian Ethnology |volume=74 |issue=1|pages=101–102|doi=10.18874/ae.74.1.05|doi-access=free}}</ref>

== Performance ==
The ritual performance at a ''būta kōla'' or ''daiva nēma'' involves music, dance, recital, and elaborate costumes. Recitals in Old Tulu recount the origins of the deity and tell the story of how it came to the present location. These epics are known as ''pāḍdanas.''<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":6" /><ref name=":7" /><ref name=":8" /><ref name=":9" /><ref name=":10" /><ref name=":11">{{Cite journal|last=Claus|first=Peter J.|year=1978|title=Heroes and Heroines in the Conceptual Framework of Tulu Culture|journal=Journal of Indian Folkloristics |volume=1 |issue=2|pages=28–42}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite journal|last=Claus|first=Peter J.|year=1978|title=Oral Traditions, Royal Cults and Material for the Reconsideration of the Caste System in South India|journal=Journal of Indian Folkloristics |volume=1 |issue=1|pages=1–39}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite journal|last=Claus|first=Peter J.|year=1979|title=Spirit Possession and Spirit Mediumship from the Perspective of Tulu Oral Traditions|journal=Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry |volume=3|issue=1|pages=29–52|doi=10.1007/BF00114691|pmid=498800|s2cid=13641314}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=The Tübingen Tulu Manuscript – Two South Indian Oral Epics Collected in the 19th Century.|last1=Brückner|first1=Heidrun|last2=Rai|first2=Vivek|publisher=Harrassowitz|year=2015|location=Wiesbaden}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title="Kannālaye: The place of a Tuḷu Pāḍdana among Interrelated Oral Traditions." In Flags of Flame: Studies in South Asian Folk Culture, edited by Heidrun Brückner, Loyhar Lutze, and Aditya Malik|last=Brückner|first=Heidrun.|publisher=Manohar|year=1993|location=New Delhi|pages=283–334}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Claus|first=Peter|year=1975|title=The Siri Myth and Ritual: A Mass Possession Cult of South India.|journal=Ethnology |volume=14|issue=1|pages=47–58|doi=10.2307/3773206|jstor=3773206}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last=Suzuki|first=Masataka|year=2008|title=Bhūta and Daiva: Changing Cosmology of Rituals and Narratives in Karnataka.|journal=Senri Ethnological Studies |volume=71 |pages= 51–85}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title="Kin Songs." In Gender, Genre, and Power in South Asian Expressive Traditions edited by Arjun Appadurai, Frank K. Korom and Margaret A. Mills|last=Claus|first=Peter James|publisher=Motilal|year=1991a|location=Delhi|pages=136–177}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title="Tulu PaaDdanas: Text and Performance." In Perspectives on Dakshina Kannada and Kodagu edited by the Editorial Committee|last=Claus|first=Peter J.|publisher=Mangalore University Decennial Volume, Mangalore University|year=1991b|location=Mangalagangotri|pages=1–10}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://class.csueastbay.edu/anthropology/claus/gundert/gundert.htm|title=GUNDERT.htm|last=Claus|first=Peter J.|date=1993a|website=class.csueastbay.edu|access-date=4 May 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title="Text Variability and Authenticity in the Siri Cult." In Flags of Fame edited by Heidrun Brücker|last=Claus|first=Peter J.|publisher=Manohar|year=1993b|location=New Delhi|pages=335–374}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://class.csueastbay.edu/anthropology/claus/kumar.htm|title=KUMAR and the Siri Myth / Ritual|last=Claus|first=Peter J.|year=1997|website=class.csueastbay.edu|access-date=4 May 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Claus|first=Peter James|year=2001|title=Variability of the Tulu paddanas.|journal=Cahier de Littérature Orale |volume=48 |pages=129–158}}</ref><ref name=":12">{{Cite book|title="Translating Performance." In Coastal Karnataka. Studies in Folkloristic and Linguistic Traditions of Dakshina Kannada Region of the Western Coast of India edited by U. P. Upadhyaya|last=Claus|first=Peter J.|publisher=M. G. M. College Regional Research Centre|year=1986|location=Udupi|pages=147–154}}</ref>

== Types of daiva's==
Thurston counts among the best known deities "Brahmeru, Kodamanitaya, Kukkintaya, [[Jumadi]], Sarala Jumadi, Pancha Jumadi, [[Lekkesiri]], Panjurli, Kuppe Panjurli, Rakta Panjurli, Jarandaya, Urundarayya, Hosadēvata (or Hosa Bhūta), Dēvanajiri, Kalkuḍa, Tukkateri, Guliga, Babbariya, Nicha, Duggalaya, Mahisandaya, Varte, Koragajja, Chāmundi, Baiderukulu, Ukkatiri, Kallurti, Shiraadi, Ullalthi, Okkuballala, Korddabbu, Ullaya, Korathi, Siri and Odityay.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Vol. V.|last1=Thurston|first1=Edgar|last2=Rangachari|first2=K.|publisher=Government Press|year=1909|location=Madras|pages=148}}</ref> According to some, [[Jumadi]] is the small-pox goddess Māri. The Bhūtas are supposed to belong to different castes. For example Okkuballala and Dēvanajiri are [[Jain Bunt|Jains]], Kodamanitaya and Kukkinataya are [[Bunt (community)|Bunts]], Kalkuḍa is a smith, Bobbariya is a Māppilla, and Nicha a [[Koraga people|Koraga]]." Some of them are ancestral spirits such as ''Bobbariya'', ''Kalkuḍa'', ''Kallurti'', ''[[Epic of Siri|Siri]]'', ''Kumār'' [[Koti and Chennayya]]. Some are deified wild animals such as the boar - ''Paňjurli'' (the female counterpart is ''Varte Paňjurli'') or the tiger - ''Pilichaṇḍi.''

Some ''būtas'' are [[Androgynous]] such as some instances of [[Jumadi]] who is represented as female below the neck (breasts), but with a male head sporting a mustache.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":0" /> There are anthropomorphic ''būtas'', zoomorphic ones, and mixed forms (such as the Malarāya of Kodlamogaru, Kasargod, who has the head of a wild boar and the body of a woman).

Depending on the significance of the people who worship them, ''būtas'' or ''daivas'' can be family deities (''kuṭuṃbada būta''), local or village deities (''jāgeda būta'', ''ūrada būta''), or deities associated with administrative units such as manorial estates (''guțțus''), groups of estates (''māgane''), districts (''sīme'') or even small kingdoms (royal ''būtas'' or ''rajandaivas'').<ref name=":7" />
===Bhūta worship types===
The Bhūta worship of South Canara is of four kinds, kōla, bandi, nēma, and agelu-tambila.
:Kōla : Demi god dancing, is offered to the Bhūtas in the sthana of the village believed that which they are supposed to reside.
:Bandi: Bandi is the same as kōla, with the addition of dragging about a clumsy kind of car, on which the one who representing the Bhūta is seated mostly it is nalke, pambada, ajala community.
:Nēma: Nēma is a private ceremony in honour of the Bhūtas, held in the house of anyone who is so inclined. It is performed once in every year two, ten, fifteen, or twenty years by well-to-do their family.
:Agelu-tambila: is a kind of worship offered only to the family people, wherein rice, dishes, meat, alcohol are served on plantain leaves and offered to spirits, deities, departed forefathers by annually or once wishes completed.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Castes_and_Tribes_of_Southern_India/Nalke|title=Castes and Tribes of Southern India}}</ref>

== Cosmology ==
According to the ethnographer Peter Claus, the Tulu ''pāḍdanas'' reveal a cosmology which is distinctly Dravidian and thus different from the Puranic Hindu cosmology.<ref name=":11" /><ref name=":4" /> Importantly, priesthood is not the preserve of a caste learned in scriptures but is shared between the ruling aristocracy on one hand and ritual specialists from the lower strata of society on the other hand. The world is divided in two three realms: firstly, the realm of cultivated lands (grāmya), secondly the realm of wastelands and forests (jāṅgala/āraṇya), and thirdly the realm of spirits (būta-loka). Grāmya and jāṅgala/āraṇya form part of the tangible world, whereas būta-loka is their intangible counterpart. As grāmya is constantly threatened by encroachment, disease, hunger and death form jāṅgala and āraṇya, so is the tangible world under constant threat from the intangible world of the spirits. The world of the forest is the "world of the wild, unordered, uncontrolled, hungry beings of destruction".<ref name=":4" />

The world of the forest and the world of the spirits are therefore seen as mirror images of each other. The wild animals threatening the human cultivator and his fields such as the tiger, the snake, the wild-boar, and the bison, find their mirror images in their corresponding būtas ''Pilli, Naga, Paňjurli'' and ''Maisandaya''.

The relationship between these three worlds is one of balance and moral order. If this order is upset by the humans, it is believed that the spirits become vicious. If the order is maintained, the spirits are believed to be supportive and benevolent. Thus, the spirits of [[Tulu people|Tulu]] culture are neither ‘good’ nor ‘bad’ as such; they are "neither cruel nor capricious. They methodically and persistently remind a lax humanity of the need for morality and the value of solidarity".<ref name=":13">{{Cite journal|last=Claus|first=Peter J.|year=1973|title=Possession, Protection and Punishment as Attributes of the Deities in a South Indian Village.|journal=Man in India |volume=53 |issue=3 |pages= 231–242}}</ref> Nobody is believed to be above the moral and cosmological norms of this threefold universe, not even the spirits or the gods. Thus the ''būta''s are not whimsical or arbitrary in their judgement. The ''būta''s are their patron's protectors with regard to a system of moral norms, not despite them.<ref name=":13" />

Feudal relations of tribute and fealty mark the relations among the humans in the tangible world, among spirits in the intangible world and between humans and spirits across tangible and intangible worlds. While the world of humans is ruled by a mortal king, the world of the spirits is ruled by Bermeru, the lord of the forest and of the būtas. And just as the landed aristocracy depended on protection and support from their king, the world of humans depends on protection and support from the spirits. Thus once in a year at the time of ''kōla'' or ''nēma'', the lord of the human world (patriarch, landlord, king) has to be reconfirmed in his authority by reporting to the spirit to which he is accountable. While the temporal lord's authority is dependent on the spirit'';'' the authority of the spirit is guaranteed by the active participation of the villagers in the ritual. Thereby a certain degree of political legitimacy is upheld by the active participation of the villagers. Their withdrawal from the ritual can seriously affect the authority of the landlord.<ref name=":14">{{Cite journal|last1=Carrin|first1=Marine|last2=Tambs-Lyche|first2=Harald|author2-link=Harald Tambs-Lyche|year=2003|title='You don't joke with these fellows.' Power and Ritual in South Canara, India.|journal=Social Anthropology |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages= 23–42|doi=10.1017/S0964028203000028}}</ref>

As Claus observes, the principal mediators in this network of feudal transactions are communities who once upon a time may have led a liminal life between grāmya and jāṅgala/āraṇya.<ref name=":3" /> Tribal communities living in and off the forest and trading in forest products were predestined to serve as spirit impersonators as their life world, the forest, is only the tangible side of the world of the spirits. In pursuit of their livelihood they regularly transgress structural boundaries between village and forest. They live on the margins of the village, in the wasteland between forest and field, thus they are themselves, in a sense, liminal. That such liminal people should be mediums for the spirits seems entirely apt. Today communities like Nalike, Parava or Pambada who impersonate different kinds of ''būtas'' and ''daivas'' can no longer be characterised as tribal. They are mostly landless agricultural labourers in the wet season and spirit impersonators in the dry season.

== Worship ==
[[File:Kantheri Dhumavathi 01.jpg|thumb|The temple of the deity Jumadi in Mangalore, India]]
Today feudal relations no longer obtain and thus former ruling families no longer hold any political or judicial office. But still the village demands that they sponsor their annual ''kōla'' or ''nēma'' to honour the village deity. The people believe that the neglect of the spirits will make their life miserable.<ref name=":13" /> Even though they may have changed, ''būta kōla'' and ''daiva'' ''nēma'' still serve secular as well as religious purposes. In fact the two cannot be separated in a world where the tangible is suffused with the intangible. As the cosmology underlying the ''pāḍdanas'' suggests, the very order of the human world and the order of the spirit world are interdependent.

''Būtas'' and ''daivas'' are not worshipped on a daily basis like mainstream Hindu gods. Their worship is restricted to annual ritual festivals, though daily ''pūjās'' may be conducted for the ritual objects, ornaments, and other paraphernalia of the būta.<ref name=":2" /> Unlike with the better-known [[Hinduism|Hindu]] gods of the ''purāṇic'' variety, ''būta'' worship is congregational.

== Secular function ==
The secular function of the ''kōla'' or ''nēma'' has been described as a "sacred court of justice" where traditional (feudal) moral ideals are brought to bear on difficult real-life situations.<ref name=":13" /> ''Būta kōlas'' and ''daiva'' ''nēmas'' are assemblies of the entire village. Thus they become an occasion to resolve conflicts in the village.<ref name=":14" /> The royal ''daiva'' (''rājan-daiva)'' rules over a former small kingdom or large feudal estate. He or she is mostly the family deity of rich land-owning patrons of the ''[[Bunt (community)|Baṇṭ]]'' caste whose position and power they reflect, confirm and renew.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":6" /> The relationship between the ''būtas'', manor heads, and the villagers forms a transactional network which reaffirms the caste hierarchy and power relations in a village.<ref name=":0" /> The duty assigned to every category is differential but based on mutuality. The manor head by staging the ''nēma'' seeks to symbolically proclaim himself to be the natural leader of the community.

The villagers offer ''sēva'' during the ''nēma'' in the form of service and prostrations and in doing so also offer their support to the ''nēma'' and their recognition of the leader's status. In return, the villagers expect justice and resolution of disputes by the ''daiva'' during the ''nēma.'' In the ''nēma'', the leading manors offer a part of their farm products to the ''daiva'', which are then redistributed to the villagers. The ''nēma'' thereby underlines the mutuality on which feudal relations used to be based and, in a limited way, takes care of the problem of social (distributive) justice. The ''būta''s receive these offerings and in return give oracles and blessings to ensure the future prosperity of the village (humans, animals, fields). Finally, a part of these offerings will be distributed as ''prasāda'' among the heads of the ''guṭṭus'' and other villagers according to their ranks.<ref name=":0" /> The system of entitlements is constituted in, or embodied by, the mutual gifting activity between the ''būta''s, as the ultimate owner of the land, and people in rituals, creating a transactional network among them.<ref name=":0" />

== Ritual script ==
The script of the ritual changes from one n''ēmā'' to another, thus the following description is somewhat ideal-typical. The ritual begins with the paraphernalia of the ''būta'' being brought to the shrine which serves as a venue for the festival. They are placed on an altar or on a swinging cot, which is the insignium of a royal būta (''rajan-daiva''). The Nalike, Parava or Pambada medium prepares for the impersonation of the spirit with a recital of from the ''pāḍdana'' of the ''būta'' or ''daiva''. After this, the medium starts putting on make-up and dressing up in his costume which may include an elaborate ''ani'' (a giant halo stringed to the back of the dancer). Finally, the medium is given the ornaments from the hoard of the shrine. As he enters the arena, the attendant of the spirit (''pātri'') gives him his sword, his bell and other paraphernalia and the patron (''jajmān'') gives him one or several burning torches. As the medium begins to dance, the spirit enters his body. Two people hold the torches along with the medium at all times. Thus, the entrance of spirit into this world is restrained. The medium's dance gains more force as the possession continues. He brings the torches dangerously close to his body. The ''jajmān'' now stands in a ritualistic circle on the ground with his assistants and offerings are made to the ''būta''. These offerings often include the sacrifice of a chicken whose blood is sprinkled on the ground to enhance the fertility of the land.<ref name=":2" /> These sacrificial acts are followed by offerings of puffed rice, beaten rice, coconut pieces, bananas, ghee, betel leaf, and areca nut.<ref>{{Cite book|title="Gods Going Wild? Enacting Loss of Control in Tulu Possession Rituals: A Photographic Case Study" in Emotions in Rituals and Performances edited by Axel Michaels and Christoph Wulf|last=Brückner|first=Heidrun|publisher=Routledge|year=2012|location=New Delhi|pages=214–233}}</ref> In the subsequent court of justice the spirit is approached by the villagers for blessings or asked to help resolve conflicts.<ref name=":13" /><ref name=":14" /> The judicial program typically starts once the initial rituals are finished. Complaints and judgements are made orally. The ''būta'' issues the judgement after hearing the sides of the plaintiff as well as the defendant, if both are present. The ''būta's'' justice must be referrable to general principles. "''He may take a stand, he cannot take sides"''.<ref name=":3" /> While the ''būta'' may take the opinions of the village headman and other eminent persons into consideration, the ultimate judgement rests with the ''būta''. Sometimes judgements are also issued by the tossing of betel leaves and the counting of flower petals (usually areca flower). Particularly difficult cases may also be adjourned to the next year by the ''būta''. Some common disputes that come up are related to land issues, family feuds, questions of honour, robbery, debt, mortgage, breach of contract etc. In cases of theft where the offender is unknown, the ''būta'' may ask for a certain offering before finding the thief. At times the victim offers the entire value of the stolen goods to the ''būta''. If the thief is found and penalised, the person is made to pay to the plaintiff a sum that is more than the value of the goods stolen. If the ''būta'' feels that the thief shows repentance, the gravity of the penalty could be reduced.<ref>{{Cite book|title="Judicial Aspects of Bhuta Cult." In Coastal Karnataka. Studies in Folkloristic and Linguistic Traditions of Dakshina Kannada Region of the Western Coast of India edited by U. P. Upadhyaya|last=Someshwar|first=Amrta|publisher=M. G. M. College Regional Research Centre|year=1986|location=Udupi|pages=301–318}}</ref>

== Possession ==
{{Main|Divination}}

[[File:Castes and tribes of southern India. Assisted by K. Rangachari (1909) (14587481627).jpg|thumb|Buta Kola dancer from the Parava caste. circa 1909]]
The art of being a channel/medium is learned. Young boys belonging to the ''Pambada, Parava,'' ''Nalike'' castes attend rituals where their kin is performing; and they help out with shredding the coconut leaves for the garment of the channel/medium, holding the mirror while the channel/medium is putting on the make up etc. They learn the art of the performance by observing the performance of their kin and trying to mimic it.<ref name=":15">{{Cite journal|last=Ishii|first=Miho|year=2013|title=Playing with Perspectives: Spirit Possession, Mimesis, and Permeability in the Buuta Ritual in South India.|journal=Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute |volume=19 |issue= 4|pages= 795–812|doi=10.1111/1467-9655.12065}}</ref> Along with being able to mimic the way their kin performed, what is essential to be a successful channel/medium is also the aptitude of being possessed by the deity. There are certain rules the channel/medium needs to follow to prepare his body for the possession. This may include being a vegetarian and not drinking alcohol.<ref name=":15" /> The channel/medium feels the sudden spirit possession only for a few seconds but after that he is filled with the deity's energy that lets him behave as the deity for the entire ritual.<ref name=":15" />

There are two types of mediators between the spirits and the humans. The first type of mediator is known as the ''pātri.'' These are members of middle castes such as ''[[Billava]]'' (toddy tappers, formerly also bow-men).<ref name=":2" /> The second type of mediator ("channels/mediums") typically belong to scheduled castes such as ''Pambada, Parava or Nalike.''<ref name=":2" /> While the ''pātri'' has only a sword and a bell as ritual tools, the channel/medium uses makeup, ornaments, masks etc.<ref name=":2" /> Both mediums are believed to channelise the deity from an altered state of consciousness. But while the channel/medium may speak as the ''būta'' (in the first person) and about the ''būta'' (in the third person, i.e. when he recounts his/her ''pāḍdana''), the pātri only speaks as the būta in the first person.

== Pāḍdana ==
''Pāḍdanas'' are major part of [[Tuluvas|Tuluva]] oral literature.<ref name=":4" /> Much of the body of this literature has been built on the legends of the ''būtas'' and ''daivas''.<ref name=":4" /> ''Pāḍdanas'' have numerous variations for the same narrative. As in other epic traditions, there is no single author. ''Pāḍdanas'' are orally transmitted and recited.<ref name=":1" /> The language of the ''pāḍdanas'' is old [[Tulu language|Tulu]].<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":10" /><ref name=":2" /> Some famous examples are the ''Siri-Kumar Pāḍdanas'' and the [[Koti and Chennayya]] ''Pāḍdanas.'' The ''pāḍdanas'' sung by women while planting paddy are referred to as ‘field songs’.<ref name=":10" /><ref name=":4" /><ref name=":12" />

The ''pāḍdanas'' recite the origins of the spirits and deities. This is one way for the rituals to reconstruct the past and render a legitimization to it.<ref name=":2" /> The singers act as the indigenous narrators of the history of the native land. The ''pāḍdanas'' also stand in opposition to the ''puranic,'' male based principles as they highlight the feminine principles of mother earth. The ''pāḍdanas'' also reflect multi-socio-cultural background shifts (for example, the move from [[Matrilineality|Matrilineal]] system to [[Patrilineality|Patrilineal]] system). The older sense of cosmology is retained through the ''pāḍdanas''. The ''pāḍdanas'' also reflect processes of Hinduisation and Sanskritization.<ref name=":2" />

== Gallery ==
<gallery>
File:Daiva.JPG|Channel/medium with the makeup of [[Jumadi]], a popular deity of the Buta cult
File:Sanoor Bhootada Kola.jpg|Channel/medium of [[Koti and Chennayya]] preparing himself with the makeup and tying the ornaments before start of the Kola ceremony
File:Sirikattuna.jpg|Channel/medium tying the siri - palm leaves skirt around his waist
File:Daivasaana.jpg|Household shrine of Belle Badagumane, [[Belle, Udupi]]
File:Kallurti.JPG|Kallurti Buta, the female counterpart of Kalkuda Buta who is a deified spirit of a sculptor
File:Koti & Channaya 1.JPG|[[Koti and Chennayya]] two heroes of the [[Billava]] community
File:Giliga 2.JPG|Channel/medium of the wild deity Guliga
File:Malaraya 1.JPG|Malaraya Daiva, [[Kasargod]], [[Kerala]]
File:Malaraya 2.JPG|Malaraya's Mask
File:Malaraya 3.JPG|Malaraya Daiva on white boar chariot
File:Malaraya 4.JPG|Channel/medium of Malaraya
File:Koyyuru Ullathi.jpg|Channel/medium of Ullalthi, the patron deity of the [[Banga Arasa]] princely family
File:Bobbarya Swami.jpg|Channel/medium of Bobbarya Swami, the patron deity of the [[Mogaveera]] community
File:Ani - this is the tulunadu (karnataka, India) Bhutaradhane - Bhuta ware the ani..JPG|This Halo like object is used by the channel/medium while performing the ritual dance.
</gallery>

== See also ==
*[[Aati kalenja]]
*[[Yakshagana]]
*[[Theyyam]]
*[[Nagaradhane|Nagamandala]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Buta Kola}}

{{Culture of Tulunadu}}
{{Karnataka topics}}

[[Category:Dances of India]]
[[Category:Ritual dances]]
[[Category:Tuluva]]
[[Category:Culture of Tulu Nadu]]
[[Category:Shamanism]]

Buta Kola - Revision history

2409:4071:4E04:F7F0:8330:FCC0:BEA5:276D at 12:34, 1 May 2022