Pulikali is a vibrant folk dance form with a historical
legacy that has adapted to contemporary social mores and is performed
prominently in the town of Thrissur. The word ‘puli’ in Malayalam refers to
both leopards and tigers and the word ‘kali’ means play and the words together
means ‘ translating to a play about leopards or tigers’.
Performed by trained
artists to entertain people on the occasion of Onam, the annual harvest
festival in Kerala, performances consist of tableaux of performers as vividly
painted representations of tigers, hunters and other animals, enacting stories
about tigers hunting other animals and human hunters stalking tigers
accompanied by percussion ensembles.
The Maharaja of Kochi Rama Varma ‘Sakthan Thampuran’ is
believed to have introduced the folk art more than 200 years ago. In keeping
with martial traditions of his army, he sought a form that reflected the macho
ethos of his fighting forces to celebrate Onam.
A striking feature of this folk art is the vividly colored make up of
the performers. A mixture of tempera and varnish or sometimes enamel is used to
make the paint. To start with, hair is carefully removed from the bodies of the
dancers. The base coat of paint is then applied. A couple of hours to allow the
paint to dry and then the second coat applied and topped off with intricate
design motifs. This entire process takes several hours and often starts in the
early hours of the morning.
On the fourth day of Onam celebrations, performers painted
in yellow, red, and black dance to the pulsating rhytms ‘udukkus and ‘thakils’.
The udukku is a percussion instrument, a hollow double ended drum
which tapers towards the middle from either side, for ease of holding in hand.
The player holds this percussion instrument in a horizontal position. The pitch
of the instrument can be varied either by tightening or loosening the rope that
gives tension for the leather surface. The thakil is a two-sided, barrel
shaped percussion instrument made from the wood of a jackfruit tree and leather
and is played by using a stick on one side and capped fingers on the other
side.
By afternoon groups of performers or 'sangams' as they are
called and floats from different areas of Thrissur town and its neighborhood
move in a procession, dancing and miming their parts to the beat of the drums.
The different troupes vie with each other to make the best floats as well as
the best dressed tigers. The processions eventually converge on a roundabout in
the heart of the city. Thousands of spectators line the streets cheering the
dancers with some of them even trying to join in. The performances end in front
of an ancient temple, the Vadakkunnathan Temple and performers will offer a
coconut each to Ganesh, the Hindu god of fortune.
Over the years, there have been many changes in the
adornment of Pulikali dancers. In the past, masks were not used at all and
participants would have themselves painted all over. However, today ready made
masks, cosmetic teeth, tongues, beards, mustaches and broad belts with jingles
are available for use by the performers.
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