Bhuta Kola

Derived from būta (Tulu for ‘spirit’, ‘deity’; in turn derived from Sanskrit भूत for ‘ghost’, ‘wandering soul’; Anglicized: ‘bhuta’, ‘bhoota’, ‘bootha’) and kōla (Tulu for ‘play, performance, festival’).

A būta kōla or nema is typically an annual ritual performance where local spirits or deities (būtas, daivas) are being impersonated by ritual specialists from certain scheduled castes such as the Nalike, Pambada, or Parawa communities. The būta cult is prevalent among the non-Brahmin, Tulu speaking castes in Tulu Nadu. The word kōla is conventionally reserved for the worship of a single spirit whereas a nēma involves the impersonation of several spirits in hierarchical order. In kōlas and nēmas family and village disputes are referred to the spirit for mediation and adjudication. In feudal times, the justice aspect of the ritual included matters of political justice, such as the legitimation of political authority, as well as aspects of distributive justice. The produce of land directly owned by the būta (commons) as well as certain contributions from the leading manors was redistributed among the villagers. It can be said as a form of Shamanism.

The ritual performance at a būta kōla or daiva nēma involves music, dance, recital, and elaborate costumes. Recitals in Old Tulu recount the origins of the deity and tell the story of how it came to the present location. These epics are known as pāḍdanas.

Thurston counts among the best known deities "Brahmeru, Kodamanitaya, Kukkintaya, Jumadi, Sarala Jumadi, Pancha Jumadi, Rakteswari, Panjurli, Kuppe Panjurli, Rakta Panjurli, Urundarayya, Hosadēvata (or Hosa Bhūta), Dēvanajiri, Kalkuḍa, Tukkateri, Gulige, Bobbariya, Nicha, Duggalaya, Mahisandaya, Varte, Chāmundi, Baiderukulu, Okkuballala, and Odityay. According to some, Jumadi is the small-pox goddess Māri. There are only two female Bhūtas – Ukkatiri and Kallurti. The Bhūtas are supposed to belong to different castes. For example Okkuballala and Dēvanajiri are Jains, Kodamanitaya and Kukkinataya are Bants, Kalkuḍa is a smith, Bobbariya is a Māppilla, and Nicha a Koraga." Some of them are ancestral spirits such as Bobbariya, Kalkuḍa, Kallurti; some are spirits such as Koti and Chennayya, Siri and Kumār. Some are deified wild animals such as the boar - Paňjurli (the female counterpart is Varte Paňjurli) or the tiger - Pilichāmuṇḍi.

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Wikipedia