Pulikkali performers in Thrissur
| Picture Credit score: NAJEEB KK
Suresh Kumar OG of S S Pulikkali, an organisation that manages tiger dances, and his group are making ready for September 1. They’d carry out the pulikkali, an annual occasion held as a part of Onam revelry in Thrissur.
On the fourth day of Onam celebrations, as per custom, a whole lot of males painted in tiger and leopard patterns carry out the pulikkali (dance of the tigers) at Swaraj Grounds in Thrissur. Crowds collect to observe the rambunctious “tigers” dance to the beats of the chenda as they construct as much as a crescendo.
“It’s our ardour and we watch for the Onam season to compete with the remainder of the ‘tigers’ on the town,” says Suresh. “We’ve got 51 tigers this 12 months – six to seven cubs and the oldest being 65-year-old Suresh, who has donned the tiger costume for years now,” says Suresh, who performs the chenda for the group along with managing it.
Pulikkali performers
| Picture Credit score:
THULASI KAKKAT
Although COVID-19 took the sheen off the festivities for a few years, it’s slowly regaining its previous glory, he provides. “There was a time once we used to have tigers from 18 to 20 areas in Thrissur, now it has shrunk to 5. This 12 months, tigers from 5 areas – Ayyanthole, Kanattukara, Poonkunnam, Viyyur and Sakthan Thampuran Nagar (the area round Sakthan Thampuran bus stand) — will compete,” he provides. Prizes are given to the very best performers. The group of tigers from S S Pulikkali gained the primary prize final 12 months, says Suresh.
A practice that’s believed to be over 200 years outdated, the pulikkali has developed with time. One 12 months even had a group of girls tigers taking part. Preparations start early on within the day when the lads get their our bodies painted. “One doesn’t want any particular coaching to have the ability to do the tiger dance. It’s simply that one ought to be capable to groove to the beats. Then there are distinctive steps. Anybody in Thrissur, who has watched Pulikkali, would be capable to dance,” says Suresh.
Staging a pulikkali efficiency has grow to be an costly affair now, he provides. “It comes as much as over ₹10 lakh. “The dancers demand as much as ₹8,000 and the percussionists as much as ₹3,000. We have to pay for the car (used for the float) to not point out the bills concerned for the make-up,” says Suresh. However rising prices haven’t deterred the group from taking part, he provides. S S Pulikkali additionally travels to Bengaluru, Mumbai and different cities for programmes.
The Onam pulikkali shall be held in Thrissur on September 1 at 4pm.