Poorakkali, Which means Festival Performance, is a traditional dance ritual performed by men during the nine-day Pooram festival in Bhagavathy temples across North Malabar, Kerala. The Pooram festival begins with the Karthika asterism and concludes with the Pooram asterism of the month of Meenam according to the Malayalam calendar to honour Kamadeva, the god of love.
Good part about this ritual and place; There wasn’t any artificial light and mobile flashlight or led.
That year, I arrived one day late and this amazing ceremony got over known as Poorakkali, fortunately I got opportunity to witness the last day of festivity.
The Poorakkali dance is performed by a troop of young men decked in lion costumes around a huge, multi-tiered, lit lamp, also known as a "nilavilukku." The dance involves masculine movements and acrobatic, martial art steps. No singers or musicians accompany the dance; instead, the dancers themselves keep rhythm by singing, clapping and executing synchronised foot-thumping movements. The dancers usually observe a month of abstinence and undergo strenuous practise before the performance. Most of the songs sung are hymns from The Ramayana or The Bhagavata.
Celebration goes on for an entire night. And I between they take rest and that too there only on ground with whatever makeshift they manage.
Rituals hold a bit away from the main temple and that is almost 3-4 kilometres on the rocky area. To reach there one must walk on the rough surface. Which was tough for the people like me who are mostly in the proper shoes. The first time I was visiting this place, I was told by locals that this procession is going far off and you should put on your shoe, this trail isn’t suitable for people like me. I took that challenge and decided to walk alongside devotees. It was very early in the morning and we walked under the oil torches. And out of true excitement, I never realised where I was walking barefoot.
Early morning when the ceremony was over and while coming back I realised my feet were with large size blisters and it was nearly impossible to walk back to the temple. Locals were kind enough to take me back on their two-wheeler.
Poorakkali is an integral part of pooram festival celebrated during the month of Meenam (March-April). Pooram is celebrated to praise and please the god of love named Kamadeva. The Poorakkali performers mainly come from Maniyani, Ezhava Panicker, different sects of society like Chaliyan, Aasari, Moosari, Thattan, Kollan, also perform Poorakkali. The basis of Poorakkali essentially is the memories of Vasanthapooja performed by inmates of different worlds like heaven, earth etc. Poorakkali spreads knowledge and entertainment.
The festival lasts for 9 days, starting from Karthika day to Pooram day. The song sung by the group leader who is known by the name Panicker is repeated by the other artists, in chorus. This is a dance done rhythmically with elegant steps around a sacred lamp. While dancing the players clap their hands uniformly to the tune of the song and according to the Thalam by the group leader. Poorakkali has got 18 different forms. The stories are often adopted from the epics like Ramayana.
