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Folk Art | Martial Art

Folk Dances of Tamil Nadu 

Tamil nadu has rich tradition of folk arts and crafts displaying traditional skill and desterity handed down from generations. The Folk Music and Dances represent the rustic ethos, aesthetic values and melody. The conduct of folk dances and music on occasions of temple festivals and community functions gives entertainment, myrth and merry to the villagers. The Therukoothu ( Street Play ), Thappattai Attam, Karagam and Kavadi, Dummy Horse Dance and Peacock Dance, Oyilattam and Silambam are all rural programmes of art forms, very old but not archai-still conducted and enjoyed by people with abiding interest and enhusiasm.

The more celebrated forms of village folk dances are :

Karagam is a folk dance with musical accompaniment performed balancing a pot on the head. Traditioinally, this dance was performed by the villagers in praise of the rain goddess Mari Amman and river goddess, Gangai amman. In sangam literature, it is mentioned as 'Kudakoothu'. This dance has two divisions-one, Aatta karagam and the other Sakthi karagam perormed with a fire pot on the head. In Mariamman or Durga temple as ritual dance, it is called 'Sakthi Karagam'. More often it is danced with decorated pot on the head and is known as 'Aatta Karagam' and symbolizes joy and merriment.

The dance is performed in temples and on festival nd on festival occasions as entertainment. This is one of the more popular rural dances today. Earlier it was performed only to the accompaniment of Naiyandi melam but now it includes songs also. Today, the pots have transformed from mud pots to bronzeware and even stainless steel in modern times. The pots are decorated with a cone of flower arrangements, topped by a paper parrot. The parrot rotates as the dancer swingsd along. This dance is very popular all over Tamil Nadu, though its birth place is said to be Thanjavur. Both male and female performers participate in this. Acrobatics similar to circus are included - such as, dancing on a rolling block of wood, up and down a ladder, threading a needle while bending backwards and so on.

The ancient Tamils when they went on pilgrimage, carried the offerings to the gods tied oneither end of a long stick, which was balanced on the shoulders. In orders to lessen the boredom of the long travel they used to sing and dance about the gods. Kavadi Aattam has its origins in this prctice. Spcial songs were composed to be sung while carrying the Kavadi, which were known as Kavadi Sindhu. The kavadi is a semi-canopy made of bamboo strips and a light pole. The cover of Kavadi in saffron cloth decoated with Peacock feathers and balancing pots on both ends embellish th tiny kavadi. This is mainly a religious dance. Performed in worship of Loard Muruga. The dance is accompanied by Pambai and Naiyandi Melam.

The Dummy Horse dance where the dancer bears the dummy figure of a horse's body on his/her hips. This is made o flight-weight materials and the cloth at the sides swings to and fro covering the legs of the dancer. The dancer dons wooden legs which sound like the hooves of the horse. The dancer brandishes either a sword or a whip. This folk dance needs much training and skill.

Puppet shows are held in every village during festivals and fairs. Many kinds of puppets are used for the show. They are manipulated through strings or wires. The persons stand behind a screen and the puppets are held in front. The stories enacted iln the puppet shows are from puranas, epics and folklore. These shows are very entertaining and hold both adults and children enthralled for many hours.

Normally conducted during village festivals, during the months of panguni and Aadi. This is aperformed where three or four streets meet; in open air, the place being lit by gas lights. A wooden bench is set up to seat the singers and the musical troupe. Here, make-up and costumes are considered of prime importance. Only men take parat; the female rolaes are also played by them. The performance consists of story-telling, dialogue rendering, songs and dance, all performed by the artistes. The stories are from Purans, epics such as Ramayana and Mahabharata, and also local folklore. The play starts in the late eveing and gets over only durling the small hours of the day. The performance is so captivating that the audience are spell-bound unaware of the long hours.

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