A Pulikali performer at a procession during Onam festival in Kerala, India. Pulikali is also known as Kaduvaakali (Tiger Dance).
A Pulikali performer at a procession during Onam festival in Kerala, India. Pulikali, also known as Kaduvaakali (Tiger Dance), is a 200-year-old art, carefully conserved by Thrissur's artists. Pulikali means 'play of the tigers' and hence the performance revolves around the theme of tiger hunting. The most striking feature of this folk art is the colourful appearance of the performers. To get the right feel, artists paint themselves in bright yellow with patterns of black and red. A tiger mask on the face completes the get-up. It is a painstaking job and immense patience is required for the make-up. It is a wonderful sight to see humans in the guise of tigers roaming on the streets. Children, specifically take great delight in their performance as the entertainers dance, pounce and walk like a tiger. Scenes of tiger hunting goats and tiger being hunted by human beings are also beautifully depicted. Instruments like 'udukku' and 'thakil' provide the beats for the dance movement.
Size: 3600px × 2297px
Location: thrissur, kerala, india
Photo credit: © Arijit Saha / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: animal, art, attraction, bodies, children, colourful, cultural, dance, folk, ground, india, kaduvaakali, kaduvaakali., kerala, masks, paint, painted, performance, picturesque, pulikali, pulikkettikali, show, sightseeing, street, swaraj, thakil., thrissur, tiger, tourism, traditional, udukku
