Pulikali- A Tiger Dance of Kerela

Pulikali is one of the folk dances performed on the 4th day of ONAM.

What is Pulikali?

Pulikali is one of the folk dances performed on the 4th day of ONAM.
Puli Kali is also known as Kaduvaakali.
It is an Art form of Thrissur district of Kerala, India.
The name Puli Kali literally means TIGER PLAY. In Malayalam language (mother tongue of Kerala) ‘Puli’ means Tiger and ‘Kali’ means Play.
It could be to symbolize the mighty kingMahabali in the form of mighty animal – Tiger in the PuliKali dance form.

Onam is one such important harvest festival which celebrates the beginning of first day of Malayalam calendar (Kollavarsham).
Onam is a carnival of folk dances, feasts, games for four to ten days.
Onam is celebrated to welcome the spirit of King Mahabali who was a demon(asura) but during his reign it is said that Kerala was a prosperous and happy state.

The artists enact themselves as tigers and leopards by painting their whole body with red, black and yellow colors and wear tiger masks.
This folk art’s main attraction is the fat bellied men dancing on a particular rhythm or tune.
This dance was originated 200 years ago under the rule of King Ramavarma.
They all assemble at Naduvilal in the Swaraj round of Thrissur which is the center of the city and offer a coconut to Lord Ganesha of the Vadakkunathan temple.
Then they carry out processions on the streets and dance all day on the beats of instruments like ‘ thakil’, ‘udukku’ , ‘ chhenda’ and many more.