Poikkaal Kuthirai Aattam (''poi'' - False, ''kaal'' - leg, ''Kuthirai'' – Horse) or Puravi Aattam (

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

:பொய்க்கால் குதிரை ஆட்டம்) (Dummy Horse Dance) is one of the folk dances of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

. It is a type of dance performed with a dummy horse having a gap inside so that a person can fit into it to perform the dance.

Materials

The dummy figure of a horse's body is made of light-weighted materials ( jute,

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paper Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, rags, grasses or other vegetable sources in water, draining the water through fine mesh leaving the fibre evenly distrib ...

, and

glass Glass is a non-crystalline, often transparent, amorphous solid that has widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in, for example, window panes, tableware, and optics. Glass is most often formed by rapid cooling ( quenching ...

), and the cloth at the sides of the dummy swings to and fro covering the legs of the dancer. The dancers tie wooden legs to their feet so that sound is evoked when they are tapped on the floor, which sound like the hooves of the horse. The dancer brandishes either a sword or a whip.

Performers

This folk dance needs much training and skill to perform. The show is performed by men as well as women. This artistic performance is generally arranged during religious festivals and provides entertainment to the masses.

Background music

This dance is rendered to the accompaniment of music such as clarionet, drum, south Indian folk dance instruments such as Kundalam, Naiyaandi Melam,

Thavil A ''thavil'' (Tamil:தவில்) or ''tavil'' is a barrel-shaped percussion instrument from Tamil Nadu. It is also widely used in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamilnadu and Telangana States of South India. It is used in temple, folk ...

, Nadhaswaram,

Pambai The pambai or pamba (Tamil: பம்பை) is a pair of cylindrical drums used in temple festivals and folk music in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is ...

and Thalam.

Performance

This artistic performance is connected to the worship of

Ayyanar Ayyanar (IAST: Aiyaṉār, ta, ஐயனார்) is a Hindu deity venerated in South India and Sri Lanka. His worship is prevalent among the Dravidian peoples. Some studies suggest that Ayyanar may have also been worshipped in Southeast Asi ...

and prevails mainly around

Thanjavur Thanjavur (), also Tanjore, Pletcher 2010, p. 195 is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is the 11th biggest city in Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is an important center of South Indian religion, art, and architecture. Most of the Gr ...

. This dance is performed by a pair of dancers impersonating a king and queen. Sometimes, they indulge in acrobatics and they entertain the folk for hours together. The dummy-horse show is one of the main attractions in the

republic day Republic Day is the name of a holiday in several countries to commemorate the day when they became republics. List January 1 January in Slovak Republic The day of creation of Slovak republic. A national holiday since 1993. Officially cal ...

festivities at New Delhi and folk artists are sent from Tamil Nadu every year to perform this show.

Alternate view

Recent research on poikaal Kuthirai dance dispelled the myth that this art is ancient and of

Maratha The Marathi people ( Marathi: मराठी लोक) or Marathis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are indigenous to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language. Maharashtra was formed as ...

origin.

References

{{Dance forms of Tamil Nadu Folk dances of Tamil Nadu