Validity of Sanskritization Model : In the Case of the Teyyam Ritual in South India

Abstract

According to the Indian anthropologist M. N. Srinivas, the low caste is able to rise to a higher position in hierarchy by adapting the customs, rites, and beliefs of Brahmans. He named this process sanskritization. In the case of the teyyam cult in Kerala, South India, there are two kinds of myths; the puranic myth and local myth, and these are united. However, this union is not always caused recently, but it has been united for a long time. The ritual is participated in by the Brahman priests, but the main performers are untouchables, and the Brahman ritual is only partly picked up. Moreover, the performer doesn't imitate Sanskrit culture totally. And as the means of raising the social status, the improvement of the economic condition is given importance. Srinivas presumes the hierarchy with the Brahman at the top, but the sanskrit culture and the non-sanskrit culture are not based on such a hierarchy, but they are selected historically and culturally.