Yakshi

This piece is an attempt to hold on to certain lingering images, landscapes, sounds and characters from Kerala’s folklore that are slowly fading from our memories.

'Yakshi' is a sensuous female spirit-deity who dwells in the dark jungles. They say that she has a reputation for seducing lost and lonely travellers into her abode (a palm tree locally known as ‘Karimpana’) and that all that remains of her lovers the morning after are their hair and nails.

However this reputation that Yakshi carries of being the 'notorious seductress' also tells of the demonisation of the independent, ‘deviant’ woman in a harshly patriarchal society in which women remained shorn of existence or identity outside their homes and families.

Originally made for 'Taos Chaman' - Peacock Garden curated by Masooma Syed for the Lahore Biennale Virtual Museum

Dance and Choreography - Kapila Venu
Camera and Editing - Anandhu Madhu
Music - Sunilkumar P K

Location - Chelukkavu, Irinjalakuda, Kerala