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The tradition of kalam ezhuttu (pronounced "kalam- er roo-too") - detailed and beautiful ritual drawings in colored powder, of deities and geometric patterns (mandalas) - is very much alive all over Kerala. The designs usually cover an area of around thirty square meters, often outdoors and under a pandal, a temporary shelter made from bamboo and palm fronds. Each powder, made from rice flour, turmeric, ground leaves and burnt paddy husk, is painstakingly applied using the thumb and forefinger as a funnel. Three communities produce kalams; two come from the temple servant (amblavasi) castes, whose rituals are associated with the god Ayappa or the goddess Bhagavati; the third, the pullavans, specialize in serpent worship. Iconographic designs emerge gradually from the initial grid lines and turn into startling figures, many of terrible aspect, with wide eyes and fangs. Noses and breasts are raised, giving the whole a three-dimensional effect. As part of the ritual, the significant moment when the powder is added for the iris or pupil, "opening" the eyes, may well be marked by the accompaniment of chenda drums and elatalam hand-cymbals.
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