Pulikkali performed coinciding Onam festival

Thrissur, Kerala Sep 8 (UNI) Braving evening showers, thousands watched the traditional 'Pulikkali' (tiger dance) by men on the streets here today on the fourth day of Onam, the harvest festival of Kerala.

About 700 Pulikkali artists representing ten clubs participated in the traditonal art form of Thrissur, marking the conclusion of Onam festival.

Percussion ensemble drummed up excitement as the 'big cats' moved through the crowd. Hundreds of men and children wore tiger-like masks and their bodies painted danced in rhythm as part of Onam festival.

Pulikkali was perhaps the only folk art that involved painting of the body on such a large scale. It was one of the few animal mimetic dances of primordial origin that had survived the onslaught of civilisation.

According to folklorists, the play in Thrissur was almost a century old. Tamil speaking Muslims originally introduced it as part of the Moharram festivities. Ali the legend, a great warrior and the son-in-law of Prophet Mohammed, was said to have close links to the festival.

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