Kanniyar Kali (Malayalam: കണ്യാർകളി) is a folk dance ritual performed in Temples of villages in

Alathur Alathur is a town, taluk and gram panchayat in Palakkad District, Kerala, India. It is the administrative headquarters of the Alathur Taluk and is situated about 24 km from the district headquarters Palakkad through National Highway 544.Ga ...

and

Chittur Chittur-Thathamangalam is a town and municipality in Palakkad district of Kerala State, India. It is the headquarters of Chittur taluk, south-east of Palakkad, on the banks of the Kannadipuzha, a major headstream of the Bharathapuzha, the sec ...

Taluk of

Palakkad Palakkad (), formerly known as Palghat, historically known as Palakkattussery is a city and municipality in the Indian state of Kerala. It is the administrative headquarters of the Palakkad District. Palakkad is most densely populated municipal ...

district of Kerala. The event is usually a part of

Vishu Vishu (Malayalam: വിഷു), the traditional Malayali New Year, is a Hindu festival celebrated in the Indian state of Kerala, Tulu Nadu region of Karnataka, and Mahe district. The festival marks the first day of Medam, the first month of ...

celebrations of the village and usually succeeds the Vela ( Village Fair) and is usually performed during the months of April and May. It is an agricultural festival dance of

Nair The Nair , also known as Nayar, are a group of Indian Hindu castes, described by anthropologist Kathleen Gough as "not a unitary group but a named category of castes". The Nair include several castes and many subdivisions, not all of whom histor ...

community. Kanniyar Kali, despite the name of the Virgin, does not have anything to do with the Kannaki cult. Erattakudan2

Kanniyar Kali is in no way connected with the Kaniyar community, a community of authentic astrologers of Kerala.

The Dance

The dance is performed at night and ends at dawn and is conducted for four consecutive nights .In certain villages it is conducted only for three consecutive nights. The dances start every night with the men of the community gathering in the temples and performing a rhythmic circular dance called vattakali (vattakali literally means a circular dance). The vattakali is followed by several 'puraattu', which literally means farce. The purattu does not have a standard format and each purattu lasts for an hour approximately. The purattu depicts the life and social customs of various castes and tribes of medieval Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Since the purattu depict various heterogeneous castes and tribes, the various purattus have different costumes, style of dancing and songs with different tempos. Certain purattu which depict fierce tribes or warrior tribes have performances resembling stick fights and martial movements whereas certain other purattus have slow and rhythmic movements. Certain purattus are laced with humor and depict a scenario wherein a long lost husband and wife have a reunion. It is performed in a specially made square stage called as pandal. The pandal is located in front of the temple or its premises. It consists of a lighted lamp in the centre and consists of a roof supported by nine pillars. The singers occupy the central position of the stage and the dancers dance along the periphery of the pandal in a circular manner. The songs are mostly in Malayalam and certain purattus have songs in which there is a heavy influence of Tamil. The accompanying instruments are the Elatalam,

Chenda The Chenda ( ml, ചെണ്ട, ) is a cylindrical percussion instrument originating in the state of Kerala and widely used in Tulu Nadu of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu in India. In Tulu Nadu (Coastal Karnataka), it is known as ''chende''. ...

and the chengalam.

Maddalam The maddalam or madhalam (Malayalam: മദ്ദളം) मद्दलम , ମଦ୍ଦଳମ , మద్దళమ్ , ಮದ್ದಳಂ is a drum made out of the wood of the jackfruit tree. It has two sides for playing, made out of leather ...

is an accompaniment in vattakali. The participants are solely men and women are represented by

cross-dressing Cross-dressing is the act of wearing clothes usually worn by a different gender. From as early as pre-modern history, cross-dressing has been practiced in order to disguise, comfort, entertain, and self-express oneself. Cross-dressing has play ...

men who imitate the body language and way of speaking of women. In the last decade, women have made their debut Kanyarkali performance in a Desappanthal at

Kakkayur Kakkayur is a small village between Koduvayur, Pallavur and Kunisseri in Palakkad district of Kerala state, south India. Kakkayur is on the Palakkad Nemmara route about 13 km from Palakkad town. It is part of Koduvayur Grama Panchayat. ...

References

External links

Old (1966) KanyarKali Announcement2012 Tattamangalam Kanyarkali photos1992 Tattamangalam Kanyar Kali Girijavallabhan Blog on KanyarkaliKanniyaar Kali at TattamangalamPurattu acts in Kanniyaar KaliIntroducing PorrattuImages of Porratu dances performed at Sreekurumba Temple, Tattamangalam, Palakkad
li Photos] {{Tourism in Kerala Hindu festivals in Kerala Arts of Kerala Folk festivals in India Dance festivals in India Festivals in Palakkad district April observances May observances