After a COVID-induced break of two years, the tigers will roam the streets of Thrissur once again this year. But the royal grandeur of the street art form has been waning gradually. The regional street pageant, which can be proudly called Thrissur’s own, is on the verge of extinction, mainly due to fund crunch.
There is a noticeable dip in the number of teams each year. Only three teams have registered their names so far this year. The last date for registration is August 28. If the trend continues, the art form will become a thing of the past soon, say the Pulikkali teams.
Only three teams
Following the COVID-19 outbreak, the Pulikkali festival was conducted symbolically with just one tiger in the past two years. When the organisers decided to conduct the event in full swing, only the Ayyanthole, Viyyur and Sakthan teams registered their names. It was in 2019, that the Pulikkali festival was conducted in all its grandeur last. There were six teams that year.
The increasing expenses and the delay in getting funds from the Tourism department have been cited as the reasons for the dip in number of Pulikkali teams. Many of the famous teams have already left the field.
From paint to thinner and the material to make masks, everything have become very expensive. Even the artists, who do body painting for the tigers, have become unaffordable, say the Pulikkali teams. While the expenses are skyrocketing, the fund flow is nosediving, they say.
No formal system
Unlike the Thrissur Pooram celebrations, there is no formal system to organise the Pulikkali festival. A group of passionate youngsters, who want to preserve the dying art form, is working hard for its conduct. They invest everything they have, even pledge ornaments of their family, to conduct the festival. Each time they fall into huge debt after the Pulikkali event as expenses exceed the collection.
The contribution of the people make a major portion of the expenses, in addition to the funds provided by the city Corporation and the Tourism department. But the COVID-induced financial crisis has made the situation worse.
Ruler of the erstwhile kingdom of Cochin Sakthan Thampuran introduced Pulikkali two centuries ago, probably to infuse colour and pomp to the Onam celebrations. The Pulikkali festival will bring the curtain down on the Onam celebrations in Thrissur. The tiger hunt-themed street art form has people dressed like tigers roaming the streets in rustic dance steps to the accompaniment of drum beats. If it was a totally male-dominated art form earlier, women have also started participating in it for the past few years.
The Pulikkali Ekopana Samiti has urged the government to provide support to conserve the dying art form.
