charters, both locally and in extended regional networks, that sanction ongoing
relations of authority, community and worship. Kun.d.o ̄r
̄
a Ca ̄mun.d.i is today a
popularteyyam, performed by the traditionally polluting Ve ̄lan caste, in which
they offer liquor and blood sacrifice to placate this goddess, even as they perform
her in the compounds of Brahman sponsors. The narrative tension of the myth
around issues of caste, social control, and relations of pollution is thus preserved
320 rich freeman
Figure 14.2: Vairaja ̄tan, a teyyam who embodies the martial violence of the tradi-
tional military hero (vı ̄ran)