Pulikali

Pulikali or Kaduvakali (play of the tiger) is a folk art that forms part of the celebrations of the Onam festival in Kerala. This art form is mainly practiced in Thrissur district. Trained artistes prepare for the performance the day before by painting their bodies a bright yellow with red and black stripes, to resemble the tiger. They don a tiger mask to round off the costume.

The artistes then come out on the streets and dance to the beats of udukku and thakil, two percussion instruments common in Kerala. The usual themes enacted through the vigorous dancing are Kerala Kummattikkali Kummattikkali is a masked dance popular in South Malabar in Kerala, especially in Thrissur and Palakkad districts. During Onam, groups of Kummatti performers move from house to house entertaining the people and receiving gifts (in kind or cash) in return. The costumes of Kummattikkali are distinctive. The performers wear heavily painted masks made of wood (usually from the jackfruit tree, coral tree or hog plum) and skirts made of plaited grass. The masks depict characters like Krishna, Darika, Narada and others. Thalla (or thamma), the old woman leads the performers. The rhythm for the dance is provided by the ona villu, a bow like instrument made of areca nut wood, with a bamboo stick to pluck the strings. The themes of the songs are devotional. This is a participative dance with spectators often joining in spontaneously, and does not require any formal training.

This art form is 200 years old and is associated with Sakthan Thampuran of Kochi who is believed to have introduced this folk art to inject a martial spirit into the Onam celebrations.