Margamkali

Understand

Where Margamkali comes from

Margamkali is an ancient Indian round-dance of the Saint Thomas Christian (Nasrani) community of Kerala, principally performed and propagated by the Knanaya (Southist) sub-community. The dance retells the missionary work of Saint Thomas the Apostle in southern India, based on the 3rd-century apocryphal Acts of Thomas. According to the scholar Dr. Istvan Perczel, the present form of Margamkali dates from a 14-stanza composition written by the Knanaya priest Anjilimootil Itti Thomman in the 17th century, though historically a Northist (Saint Thomas Christian) version of the dance also existed. The dance's songs include Syriac liturgical words — maran, alaha, mar thomma, malaka, kandessa, ruha, nivyalanmar, Iso, Mishiha — alongside Tamil and Middle-Tamil elements, reflecting the deep Syriac and Tamil liturgical heritage of the Knanaya.

How it's practiced

Margamkali is performed by 12-14 men standing in a circle, with the lead singer at the centre holding a nilavilakku (brass lamp) and the others holding small cymbals (ilathalam) or singing. The dance proceeds through 14 stanzas, with the men moving in coordinated steps — small jumps, side-steps, turns — in time to the claps and the sung narrative. The songs describe Saint Thomas's arrival in Muziris (Kodungallur), his miracles, his confrontations with local Brahmins, and his martyrdom. Costume is the traditional Syrian Christian dress — a white or off-white tunic with a coloured sash, and for major performances a long black overcoat with a red-bordered sash. The dance is performed at weddings, church feasts and the annual Knanaya community gatherings.