‘Tigers’ on prowl as celebrations begin

pookalam

Thiruvananthapuram: Some 600 ‘tigers’, big and small, were on the prowl in Thrissur town yesterday heralding the annual harvest festival of Onam in Kerala.

Pulikali or tiger dance is a major event with traditional artists disguised as big cats performing on the streets on the first day of the 10-day Onam festival every year. The dance attracts tens of thousands of people, including foreign tourists, to Kerala’s “cultural capital”.

In all, 11 teams took part in a pulikali contest, authorities said. Similar events of men painting themselves like tigers and dancing to the beat of drums will be held in other parts of the southern state in the coming days.

The “tigers” also enthralled a large number of people who had thronged the royal town of Thripunithita near Kochi for the Athachamayam festival where a procession, including tableaux depicting the state’s communal harmony, went around the main areas throughout the day.

Pulikkali is believed to have come to Kerala through Tamil-speaking Muslims some 250 years back as part of their Moharram festivities. Kerala now showcases it as a major attraction for tourists.

The dancers mime a tiger that moves on its hind legs. The feat requires extraordinary flexibility of the body like in Kalaripayattu, Kerala’s traditional martial art, which is also a tourist attraction.

It takes hours to get the dancers’ bodies painted and involves hundreds of expert hands trained in the trade. Herbal dyes were used earlier but now synthetic paints are used lavishly.

At Thripunithura, Home and Tourism Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan kicked off the celebrations marking the traditional Athachamayam, a grand procession to commemorate the royal custom of the erstwhile state of Kochi when it was customary for the king to travel with his entire entourage to the Thripunithura Fort.

Caparisoned elephants, traditional temple orchestras and other paraphernalia were paraded on the Athachamayam. The procession continued until evening and culminated with several contests including making a pookalam, a floral carpet.

The Atham day of the Malayalam month of Chingam marks the beginning of Onam celebrations. People across the state will make flortal designs in front of their homes during the next ten days.

On the last day called Thiruvonam, people will celebrate the festival with a ‘sadya’, a traditional and elaborate lunch served on banana leaves.