There were no prancing tigers, no rustic drum beats or moving floats in Thrissur Swaraj Round on Thursday, the fourth Onam day this time. But thousands of people watched Pulikkali, the hallmark street pageant, from their home.
In Thrissur, Onam celebrations is not complete without Pulikkali. The tiger-hunt themed street pageant, in which people done up in tiger body art roam the streets in feral dance steps, will bring the curtains down for the celbrations.
Even when the COVID protocol prevented the street performance, Thrissur’s tigers were not ready to surrender. After the floods, when the pandemic snatched away the fun and frolic of Onam, the Ayyantole Desham Pulikkali team decided to keep up the spirit with an online performance.
People across the world watched the one-hour live Pulikkali performance on the Facebook page of the Ayyanthole Desham Pulikkali Sangadana Samiti from 3.30 p.m. on Thursday. In all, 16 tigers performed from their own house.
“The masks are not new to people of Thrissur. It was us, who introduced the masks to the world long back, much before COVID, as Pulikkali masks,” said caricature artist Jayaraj Warrier, while introducing the online performance.
“Pulikkali is a secular celebration. People from all religions participate in the event,” he said.
“We are going through a strange period. COVID has changed our personal and social life. The pandemic has forced us to redefine every stage of life. But people in Thrissur are smart to find opportunities in even the toughest times,” said Agriculture Minister V.S. Sunil Kumar, congratulating the performers.
Only, there was a change in the platform for the performance. But the preparations were all the same. Tiger dens were busy as usual. The body art was done with utmost precision. Steps were practised with care. The dance steps had the same spirit and the pot bellies of tigers vibrated in the same vigour.
However, the organising committee had a huge task of introducing the ‘new normal’ performing style to the tigers. Tigers, who used to do the feral dance steps sans any hard and fast rules, found it difficult to dance within the limit of the frame.