Pulikali actors on the road after makeup-Part 2 - Sep 2008

About Thirteen teams each comprising about 60 participants representing different villages or "desoms" participated in the 2008 event held on September 15th at Swaraj round, Trichur which marked the end of Onam celebrations.Kerala Tourism and Thrissur Corporation jointly sponsored the event.

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Crowded Trichur Town on Pulikali day - Sep 2008

Large crowd gathered to watch the Pulikali extravaganza at Swaraj Round, Trissur, Kerala. Thousands of people, including tourists from various parts of the country and abroad witnessed this spectacular event.

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Pulikali (Tiger Play / Dance), Trissur, Kerala - Sep 2008

Pulikali / Kaduvakali is a folk art form performed during Onam festival season of Kerala. In Malayalam "Puli' means Tiger and "Kali" means Play. In Trichur town Pulikali competition is held every year during Onam festival.

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Pulikali actors on the road after makeup-Part 1 - Sep 2008

Pulikali actors coming out of their 'den' after finishing makeup and marching in groups before the start of competition.

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Stock Image No: PKY 084 As the Pulikali groups marches towards Swaraj Round through Poonkunnam over bridge, Trichur, a train passes below.

Individual 'Pulis' or Tigers-Part 1 - Sep 2008

Pulikali troupes from different suburbs of Trissur assemble to display their skills at Swaraj Round ( Ring road that circumscribing the Vadakkumnathan temple Thekkinkadu pooram ground in Trichur town, Kerala).

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Individual 'Pulis' or Tigers-Part 2 - Sep 2008

Pulikali is a type of mime form where participants dress up as tiger and dance to the harmony of traditional drums like 'chenda', 'udukku' and 'thakil'.

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Full-length portraits of Pulikali actors - Sep 2008

Mr Stephen Gates, a BBC reporter from UK, also got himself painted as a tiger and participated in this years pulikali competition as part of a documentary production on India called 'Feast'.

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Pulikali Portraits-Part 3 - Sep 2008

In Puli Kali, a group of performers paint their whole body like tigers and wear mask. First, the dancers have to shave off the hair from their body and then the base coat of paints is applied on them. After two to three hours, the second coat of paint is applied with different designs according to the Pulikkali painting artist.

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Pulikali Portraits-Part 2 - Sep 2008

In the past paintings were done on the faces of participants. In recent years this has changed and the practice of using artificial masks with tongue, teeth, mustachios and beards attached came into existence.

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