SOUTH INDIAN CULTURE - LAKSHADWEEP




SOUTH INDIAN CULTURE -LAKSHADWEEP


Several kilometres off the coast of India, a group of islands, that also forms one of the Union Territories of the country, is positioned in the Laccadive Sea. It holds the title of the smallest Union Territory of India and was formerly popular as the Laccadive, Minicoy, and Aminidivi Islands. This Union Territory is now known as the Lakshadweep Islands. The region is a single Indian district with ten subdivisions and Kavaratti, serving as its capital. Lakshadweep is a cluster of twelve atolls, three reefs and five submerged banks, with a total of about thirty-nine islands and islets. Most inhabitants are descendants of migrants from the Malabar Coast and ethnically similar to coastal Kerala’s Malayali people while the Minicoy population is made of Mahls that are native to Maldives.

Religion

Different religious customs were known to be practiced by the islanders, before Islam was propounded by Sheikh Ubaidullah. The Sunni branch of Islam is the predominant faith. Much of the indigenous population is made of Muslims of which, majority belong to the Shafi School of the Sunni sect.

Festivals

Eid-ul-Fitr, Muharram, Eid-ul-Adha and Milad-un-Nabi are the prominent occasions when the people of the island gather in various mosques. Moulood is one religious event when the islanders offer prayers to the divine power and eat in groups. The festival of Ratheeb is another uncommon occasion which originated in the Kavaratti region of Lakshadweep in which the grave of Sheikh Kasim, one of the respected saints, is praised by the people of the island to gather his holy blessings.

Languages

The predominant languages of Lakshadweep are Malayalam, Jeseri and Mahl. The people of all the northern islands speak a dialect of Malayalam with the influence of Tamil and Arabic similar to Arwi. The people of Minicoy, the southernmost atoll, speak Mahl, a variant of Divehi language spoken in the Maldives. Malayalam with Malayalam script was introduced as the official language of Lakshadweep during the British rule, where previously a type of Arabic script(Arabi Malayalam) was used for the language.

Dance


The traditional dances of the Lakshadweep Islands resemble that of Kerala. One of the renowned dance forms is the Lava dance which is particularly performed in the Minicoy Island. The dancers don multi-hued dresses paired with head gear and carry drums, while dancing to the rhythmic beats of the same and the accompanied songs. Other dance forms of Minicoy are Dandi, Fulli, and Bandiya.
Another popular dance form of the Lakshadweep Islands is the Kolkali dance or the stick dance that is performed by men who use sticks as props and dance in pairs to the rhythmic beats of the stick.
Yet another popular dance form is that of the Parichkali dance, or the shield dance. The dance resembles fighting, with wars, warriors and freedom struggle as the common themes and thus makes use of swords and shields as props. It may also be called a form of martial art.

Music
Singing folk ballads, describing historic antecedents is common during family occasions and festivals. The themes vary based on the incidents. The balladeer commonly exhibits an immense talent of keeping everybody engaged in his stories. Marriage performances usually see Opana, which is a song sung by a lead singer and followed immediately by a group of women.


 BY 
FAADILA AISHA
1 BSC PSYCHOLOGY

Comments

  1. BlogFebruary 11, 2019 at 8:58 PM

    This blog explains the culture of Lakshadweep islands in a very good way. I got to know about their culture well from this blog.

    ReplyDelete
  2. imaginatively creativeFebruary 12, 2019 at 5:47 AM

    Lakshadweep islands share similar culture to kerala. This blog was interesting to read and learn new things that i didn't know about these islands.
    G.Abirami

    ReplyDelete
  3. imaginatively creativeFebruary 12, 2019 at 7:31 AM

    informative. -Archita. T. Menon

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownFebruary 12, 2019 at 8:29 AM

    Hamsika
    The islands are often neglected when it comes to culture of Indian states but it is a very good thing for adding it to the list and beautifully comprising the information.

    ReplyDelete
  5. imaginatively creativeFebruary 12, 2019 at 9:28 AM

    Nice to know about these islands. Very well written.
    Faaiqa Aisha

    ReplyDelete

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