Re-reading Caste and Gender A Study of the Rituals of Kodungallur Sri Kurumba Bhagavathy Temple of Kerala

Every society has a set of cultural value systems, by which its members are socialized into a desirable code of conduct which clearly distinguishes what an individual is expected to do and what not. Such value systems later find expression in various rules and norms and are explained and expanded through social practices like rituals and rites. Hence social practices in the form of myths and rituals do not simply refer to private taste, but to assumptions by which certain groups exercise and maintain power over others. Those who manipulate and design the rituals, rites and myths will have definite set of objectives and they execute it and make them entrenched in the human psyche in such a way that the powerless majority take it as natural and universal, hence not to be questioned or changed. This often leads to social injustice, marginalisation and exclusion of the vulnerable group. The paper is an attempt to read the sexual and caste politics, not only in the way it is designed but also in the way it is received and got modified through ages. Mr. Sudheesh S | Ms. Athira Prakash "Re-reading Caste and Gender: A Study of the Rituals of Kodungallur Sri Kurumba Bhagavathy Temple of Kerala" Published in International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (ijtsrd), ISSN: 2456-6470, Volume-2 | Issue-6 , October 2018, URL: http://www.ijtsrd.com/papers/ijtsrd18783.pdf