Jose -- looks like brass and steel to me.
Ian -- thanks for the info on the Nair. Fascinating!
The south Indian culture particularly interests me. Here are some of the Theyyam.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theyyam
the sword in my picture is silver with sliver plated brass sideplates. It is not sharp.
I also have a small shield and a breastplate like in the other pictures. I very much hope to be able to travel there and see these fabulous dancers sometime.