ItemArticle

When cloth colours become markers of caste identities: ritual performance and caste politics in contemporary Kerala

Title
When cloth colours become markers of caste identities: ritual performance and caste politics in contemporary Kerala
Creator
Sureshkumar, Surya; Nishant, Vaidyanath
Description
Keralas caste hierarchy, characterised by untouchability and social exclusion, historically provoked protests demanding temple entry and basic rights for marginalised Hindus. In 2024, during the centenary of the 1924 Vaikom Satyagraha, the annual Ashtami festival at the Vaikom Mahadeva Temple featured women participating in the Poothalam ritual procession and wearing colour-coded blouses that signified caste identities. The temple re-emerges as a ritual space where caste distinctions become publicly visible, which transforms a commemorative event into a site for expressing caste identities. This article argues that the colour-coded blouses worn in the ritual procession reconfigure caste as a performative and embodied marker of identity. The article further demonstrates how ritual practices re-inscribe historical hierarchies in contemporary Kerala. The study analyses media narratives and ritual symbolism to connect the historical struggle for equality with contemporary representations of caste in Kerala and draws on theories of social construction, cultural memory, and subaltern identity. 2026 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
Source
Asian Ethnicity;
Date
01-01-2026
Publisher
Routledge
Subject
Caste; cultural memory; embodiment; gender; Kerala; ritual performance; social construction; Vaikom Satyagraha
Coverage
Sureshkumar S., Department of English and Cultural Studies, Christ University, Bengaluru, India; Nishant V., Department of English and Cultural Studies, Christ University, Bengaluru, India
Rights
Restricted Access; Hardcopy may be available in the library
Relation
ISSN: 14631369;
Format
online
Language
English
Type
Article

Citation

Sureshkumar, Surya; Nishant, Vaidyanath, “When cloth colours become markers of caste identities: ritual performance and caste politics in contemporary Kerala,” CHRIST (Deemed To Be University) Institutional Repository, accessed June 18, 2026, https://archives.christuniversity.in/items/show/22721.

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