Kottayam, Kerala, India / Dancers performing pulikali in a procession. Tiger Dance / Pulikali (Kaduvaakali) is a folk art of the state of Kerala. The art means “play of the tigers” and the dance performed by the dancers in the costume of tigers is extremely interesting and fun to watch. Pulikali is one of the folk dances performed on the 4th day of Onam (harvest festival). This folk art’s main attraction is the fat bellied men dancing on a particular rhythm or tune. The bodies and faces are painted to look like tigers. It is quite a task to do the make-up and hence it is very interesting to see it. The makeup is something to swear by as it is hard to remove. They use oil paints to mimic as close as possible to the animal skin.... See more
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