Aavasam documentary traces how folk deities are recast in a dominant mould

Social and cultural change often unfolds so gradually that it escapes notice. Aavasam (Habitus), a documentary by Kiran K.R., a student of the K.R. Narayanan National Institute of Visual Science and Arts, turns its attention to precisely such shifts.

The film opens on a personal note, with the director recalling a small deity enshrined under a tree near his home in Palakkad district. What was once the worship place of a single family has since grown into a temple.

Screening at the 18th International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Keralam (IDSFFK), the documentary tracks how familiar practices and meanings are being quietly altered under the influence of a dominant political and cultural order. Rituals centred on Maadan, Karuppaswamy and other subaltern folk deities, it observes, are being reconfigured to fit dominant Hindutva narratives and recast as manifestations of pan-Hindu gods.

Kiran places similar instances from other regions alongside his own, suggesting that the pattern is not isolated but part of a wider political project. The change registers not only in the names given to deities but also in their food habits.

Those driving these transformations speak to the camera with striking candour and full conviction in what they are doing. Activists who analyse the changes argue that communal organisations harness belief for political purposes. As one of them puts it, new places of worship are built not only in stone but also through the dominant narratives of the present.

The film's craft is noted as central to its effect, with Adul Kamal's visuals and Vishnu P.'s sound design and music drawing viewers into the subject.