Pulikkali

The Swaraj Ground in front of the Vadakkunnanthan temple in Thrissur play host to the vibrant 'Pulikkali' or 'Tiger Dance' festival every year in the month of August- September. The main theme of the Tiger dance is tiger hunting and hundreds of males with huge bellies and children, dressed as tigers take part in the dance, that forms a key element of the popular harvest festival of Onam in Kerala. Pulikali also known as 'Kaduvaakali', is a folk art form of Kerala in which artists paint themselves with tiger stripes of yellow, red and black, and dance to the rhythm of traditional percussion instruments such as thakil, udukku and chenda.