Poothan and Thira is a

ritual A ritual is a sequence of activities involving gestures, words, actions, or objects, performed according to a set sequence. Rituals may be prescribed by the traditions of a community, including a religious community. Rituals are characterized ...

istic

art Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...

form found in the South

Malabar Malabar may refer to the following: People * Malabars, people originating from the Malabar region of India * Malbars or Malabars, people of Tamil origin in Réunion Places * Malabar Coast, or Malabar, a region of the southwestern shoreline o ...

region of

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, in which people dance in costumes representing Poothan is the lieutenant of Kali, and Thira, the goddess

Kali Kali (; sa, काली, ), also referred to as Mahakali, Bhadrakali, and Kalika ( sa, कालिका), is a Hindu goddess who is considered to be the goddess of ultimate power, time, destruction and change in Shaktism. In this tra ...

, to the accompaniment of drummers. Thudi a small drum using for poothan, and heavy drum para accompanying thira. It is usually performed once a year in villages in conjunction with the Kali temple festivals mainly in the coastal areas and River Nila- especially in the ''

Pooram Pooram pronounced is an annual festival, which is celebrated in temples dedicated to goddesses Durga or Kali held especially in Valluvanadu area and other adjoining parts of north-central Kerala (Present Palakkad, Thrissur, Kannur, Kasara ...

'' festival season between December and May. A typical Poothan and Thira performance includes shouts and wild gestures and may include percussion and horns as well as drums. The dancers wear large fan-shaped head-dresses and imposing masks, often with sticking-out tongues and bulging eyes. The dancer playing Poothan usually wears a bright coloured tightly woven costume, often including bright red elements and embellished with gold-coloured trinkets that rattle when the dancer moves. The dancer playing Thira wears a semicircular black crown with symbols of the goddess embossed on it. Performers are traditionally from the Mannan

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

sub-caste of rural

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 ...

, southern parts of

Malappuram Malappuram (also Malapuram) () is a city in the Indian state of Kerala, spread over an area of including the surrounding suburban areas. The first municipality in the district formed in 1970, Malappuram serves as the administrative headquarter ...

and northern parts of

Thrissur Thrissur (), formerly Trichur, also known by its historical name Thrissivaperur, is a city and the headquarters of the Thrissur district in Kerala, India. It is the third largest urban agglomeration in Kerala after Kochi and Kozhikode, and t ...

. The epic

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 2 ...

poem ''Poothappattu'' by

Edasseri Govindan Nair Edasseri Govindan Nair ( ml, ഇടശ്ശേരി ഗോവിന്ദൻ നായർ; 23 December 1906 – 16 October 1974) was an Indian poet and playwright of Malayalam literature. Known as one of the major poets of Malayalam, Edasseri ...

is based on the Poothan and Thira tradition. There are various myths connection with Poothan...

References

External links

Kerala Tourism

Kerala Festivals
{{Culture of Kerala Culture of Kerala