Kummattikali or Kummatti Kali is the famous colorful mask-dance of

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, 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 ...

, prevalent in

Thrissur District Thrissur (), anglicised as Trichur, is one of the List of districts of Kerala, 14 districts in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kerala. It is situated in the central region of the state. Spanning an area of about , th ...

, Palakkad District and parts of South Malabar. During the festival of

Onam Onam () is an annual harvest and Hindus, Hindu cultural festival celebrated mostly by the people of Kerala. A major annual event for Malayalis, Keralites, it is the official festival of the state and includes a spectrum of cultural events. H ...

, Kummattikali performers move from house to house collecting small gifts and entertaining people. Kummatti dances are rampant in the

Thrissur district Thrissur (), anglicised as Trichur, is one of the List of districts of Kerala, 14 districts in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kerala. It is situated in the central region of the state. Spanning an area of about , th ...

during Onam. Pristine or original form of Kummattikali can be seen in the

Bhadrakali Bhadrakali (IAST: Bhadrakālī; ) is an important goddess, mainly worshiped by Hindus, and is a form of Kali. She is considered to be the auspicious and fortunate form of Adi Shakti or Durga, the supreme mother who protects the good, known ...

temple in Palakkad district.

Costumes

The costumes are a most interesting fact of Kummattikali. The dancers don a heavily painted colourful wooden mask depicting faces of

Krishna Krishna (; Sanskrit language, Sanskrit: कृष्ण, ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme God (Hinduism), Supreme God in his own right. He is the god of protection, c ...

Narada Narada (, ), or Narada Muni, is a sage-divinity, famous in Hinduism, Hindu traditions as a travelling musician and storyteller, who carries news and enlightening wisdom. He is one of the Manasputra, mind-created children of Brahma, the creator ...

, Kiratha,

Darika Darika is a character in Mudiyettu, a ritualistic dance from the Bhagavathi or Bhadrakali worship, usually performed only in the Kali temples of Kerala. The story is also known as "Darika vadham", or "killing of Darika". In the story, Brahma gran ...

, or hunters. These masks are usually made out of saprophyte, jack fruit tree,

Alstonia scholaris ''Alstonia scholaris'', commonly called blackboard tree, scholar tree, milkwood or devil's tree in English, is an evergreen tree in the oleander and frangipani family Apocynaceae. Its natural range is from Pakistan to China, and south to northe ...

, Hog Plum tree or the Coral tree. The dancers wear skirts woven out of plaited grass. Some cover their whole body with bunches of grass for a bushier appearance. The semblance is made more joyful with the 'talla' attached externally to the mask giving the appearance of a toothless open mouth. Dancers also hold and manipulate long sticks of residuary agricultural produce called 'Kummattikali': it is from this that the dance derives its name. Their dance is related to Shaiva myth. 'Thamma' (an old woman) walks in front with the help of a stick. Thamma is symbolic of mother of every being and everything. Kummatti dancers are a sight to watch as they move around from house to house collecting jaggery, rice, or small amounts of cash. Onlookers, especially children, take great delight in their performance.

Performance

The rhythm for the dance movements is provided by vibrating the string of a bow like instrument called an Onavillu.

Areca nut The areca nut ( or ) or betel nut () is the fruit of the areca palm (''Areca catechu''). The palm is originally native to the Philippines, but was carried widely through the tropics by the Austronesian migrations and trade since at least 15 ...

wood is used to make the bow and the strings are beaten with a narrow bamboo stick.India Travel Times: Kummattikali, the Kerala folk dance by Juhan Samuel
/ref> The themes of Kummattikali are mostly taken from the stories of

Ramayana The ''Ramayana'' (; ), also known as ''Valmiki Ramayana'', as traditionally attributed to Valmiki, is a smriti text (also described as a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic) from ancient India, one of the two important epics ...

, Darika Vadham, the story of

Shiva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...

and folk tales like Manjan Nayare Pattu. It may be noted that folk art of Kerala can be classified into two broad categories - ritualistic and non-ritualistic. Ritualistic can be further divided into - Devotional, performed to please a particular god and goddess and Magical Art Forms.

Theyyam Theyyam is a Hindu religious ritual practised in the North Malabar Region of Kerala and some parts of Karnataka. Theyyam is a ritual performance involving extended chanting of mantras and ceremonial preparations that typically span 8 to 10 hou ...

, Thirra, Poothamthira, Kannyar Kali, Kummattikali, etc. are some of devotional art forms.

In popular culture

In the 2020 Malayalam action film '' Ayyappanum Koshiyum'', the character Ayyappan's past as a vigilante assassin disguised as a Kummatti performer is a central plot point. Ayyappan's mastery of Kalari martial arts skills enabled him to kill 13 assassins in Kummatti disguise sent by evil landlords to eliminate worker's union members.

References

{{Culture of Kerala Dances of Kerala Onam