THRISSUR: Kummattikali, a major part of the Onam celebrations in Thrissur, was performed as a scaled-down event here on Monday, given the Covid-19 pandemic.
Only six ‘Kummattis’ participated in the event organized by the Kizhakkum Pattukara Vadakkumuri Kummattikali Sangam. The public was not allowed to enter the venue where the event was held by complying with the Covid-19 protocol. However, the nearly two-hour-long event was streamed live on social media platforms.
Meanwhile, preparations are in the final stage for the Pulikali (tiger dance) to be held today. This folk performance programme is being organized annually on the fourth day of Onam, and it marks the conclusion of the Onam celebrations. This edition of the Pulikali, arranged by the Ayyanthole Desam Pulikkali organizing committee, will also be a scaled-down event in the backdrop of the pandemic. But it will be streamed live on the organizer's Facebook pages, according to the committee spokesman, Krishnaprasad. He claimed that the programme will also be uploaded on Facebook’s own page simultaneously. The Facebook team has already released an eight-minute-long promotional video on Pulikali.
Even though the reported move of the Facebook team to stream the Pulikali has created excitement among organizers and fans, intellectual property rights (IPR) experts have cautioned against possible copyright disputes on its streaming. However, Krishnarasad clarified that the Ayyanthole Desam has not entered into any written agreement with Facebook on the live streaming of the programme. “They are only amplifying what we are live streaming in our own Facebook page,” he said.
The Viyyur Pulikali centre will showcase a Pulikali performance as a ritualistic event by featuring a single ‘Pulikali dancer’. Rangachethana, a theatre collective group, will felicitate artist Francis Chiryath, a make-up artist in the Pulikali field. The programme is being arranged as part of the initiative launched by the Rangachethana to provide relief to artists facing hardships in the backdrop of the Covid pandemic.
