Living Nāgas: Human- Animal Relationships and Ethnoarchaeological Perspectives through Nāgateyyams in Kerala

P. S. Soorya

Nāga worship, or ophiolatry, is one of the earliest continuing ritual traditions of South India, rooted in enduring human–animal relationships. This paper examines Nāgateyyams, serpent-centred ritual performances within the teyyam tradition of North Malabar, Kerala. Drawing on fieldwork conducted in sacred groves known as sarppakkāvūs in the Kannur region, the study explores how ritual practices, material settings, oral narratives (tōṭṭams), and embodied performances sustain systems of cultural knowledge across generations. Recent studies linking teyyam to the prehistoric engravings at Edakkal are briefly referenced in relation to long-term visual and performative continuities. Nāgateyyams offer insight into established ideas of animal veneration, healing, fertility, and protection. Sacred groves function not only as sites of worship but as ritual landscapes that shape everyday human engagement with non-human life through restrictions, offerings, and performative acts, while supporting ecological continuity. The paper further considers sequences of rituals, offerings, iconography, and performative actions as embodied expressions of belief. Oral narratives associated with Nāgateyyams are approached as forms of collective memory reflecting social values and ecological awareness. Overall, the study reflects on how Nāgateyyams sustain long-term cultural continuities in animal veneration and ritual practice while maintaining ecological relationships centred on sacred groves.