Folk Arts

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Kaikottikali (kaikottikali): The most popular and common folk dance of Kerala is the Kaikottikali, otherwise known as "Thiruvathira" in the southern districts. It is performed by girls and young women, who arrange themselves in a round.One of them leads off with a song, usually a piece from a Kathakali work, or one of the songs specially composed by poets like Iriyamman Thampi for this dance. The girls take up the lines, and they dance round in a wavering pattern swaying and striking time with their hands. The movements are gentle, with plenty of swaying of the torso and gyration of the hips, but there are some pieces, e.g., kummi, which are fast in tempo, and executed with squatting jumps and vigorous movements. Usually, no instrumental musical ac­companiment is required, though sometimes, a mridangam and cymbals are associated

Kakkarisi Natakam      (kakkarissi natakam): This is generally   enacted by the Kurava of the Thiruvananthapurarn district,   and   is   a sort of farce narated through witty dialogues         and graceful     dances.

Vattakali (vattakali): A vigorous dance of the Vettuvar community, in which men and women participate. It is remarkable for the intricate footwork, set in twelve dif­ferent rhythmic patterns, and marked with different per­mutations and combinations of the foot and hand movements, emphasized respectively by the tinkling of the anklets and the clapping of the hands. As the dance gains momentum, the dancers whirl and execute intricate torso movements.

Purakkali (purakkali): A derivative of the kalari payattu, it is performed in Bhagavati temples as a ritual offering by the Thiyya community of North Kerala, showing off their proficiency in the martial arts. The dance is divided into 18 distinct tempos, each with different foot-work, and each phase is known as a niram.

Parichamuttum kali (paricamuttum kali) (Literally means the play or dance of hitting shields against each other): It is the replay of the kalari exercises in sword play, the dancers sporting wooden shields and swords, and enacting a mass fight, to the time marked by cymbals. In the Malabar area, the dance is performed by the Thiyya, and in the southern region, by the Christians, showing that members of these com­munities also had a martial tradition.

Purattu (purattu): In the Palakkad and Thrissur districts, Nayar communities conduct elaborate dance and drama shows generically called Purattu. The general form is for characters impersonating members of the 'lower castes' like the Kuravan, Kurathi, Chetty, Mannan, etc., in a humorous way, but with dialogues of great significance

Aiver kali (aiver kali): These dances are performed by members of the artisan communities, a'sari (carpenter), musari (metal worker in bell metal), karuvan or kollan (blacksmith), tattan (goldsmith), and kallasari (stone mason). It is common in the Palakkad and Thrissur dis­tricts and forms part of the annual festival (vela, talapoli etc.), of the local temple processions.

Bhutham (bhutam) and Thira (lira): Another form in these two districts is performed by the Mannan (washermen community) of these two districts. One of them wears a hideous mask, and pretends to be a demon of Siva's own gang - he frightens and fascinates, as well as amuses children with repartee to their prankish queries. The other wears a huge circular wooden crown in which an icon of the Goddess is carved. They visit each house in the locality during the festival season of the local Goddess temple; the demon frightens the children and his companion blesses the households in the name of the Goddess; they are remunerated with gifts of rice, etc., and some cash. The dances are accompanied by a drum, beaten in a peculiar rhythm, which can be distinguished from afar off.

Panarkali (panarkali) and Kurathiyattam (kurattiy attam): Performed respectively by the members of the Panar and the Kurava communities, these forms are farcical repre­sentations of the sinful ways of living of the upper com­munities who exploit them, and their own sufferings and demoralization. Some scenes feature a Thekkan (southerner) and his wife, who quarrel loudly and in al­most obscene terms of abuse, pretending to have just arrived from the fabulous southern parts of Kerala. The dialogue is interspersed with beautiful dances by the Kurathi, and acrobatic steps by the Kuravan, much to the delight of the audience. In fact, so romantic has this dance become that, in literary folklore, the young Kurathi is a dream of innocent beauty and grace, though her "husband" very nearly proves her guilty of infidelity!

Cherumar kali (cherumar kali): One of the few dances in which men and women dance together in fairly close embrace s the Cherumar kali performed by the members of this untouchable" caste, in the Kozhikode and Malapuram districts. They dance together, locking their arms together in a back-lock, shoulder to shoulder. They move rapidly in swaying movements, and there are a number of songs. The feet move­ments are intricate, and the whole group sways and moves with wave-like movements.