Pampattam (snake dance) (
Tamil
Tamil may refer to:
People, culture and language
* Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia
**Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka
** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...
:பாம்பாட்டம்) is a folk dance from
Tamil country,
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
. Snakes considered as the protecting divinity which safeguards the health and prosperity. Snakes are also related to the Hindu deity
Murugan
Kartikeya (/ kɑɾt̪ɪkejə/; ), also known as Skanda ( /skən̪d̪ə/), Subrahmanya (/ sʊbɾəɦməɲjə/, /ɕʊ-/), Shanmukha ( /ɕɑnmʊkʰə/) and Murugan (/ mʊɾʊgən/), is the Hindu god of war. He is generally described as the ...
. Usually girls perform this dance with a
snake skin-like costume.
The performer simulates snake movements, writhing, creeping and making quick biting movements with the head and hands. The hands are also held together to look like the hood of a
cobra
COBRA or Cobra, often stylized as CoBrA, was a European avant-garde art group active from 1948 to 1951. The name was coined in 1948 by Christian Dotremont from the initials of the members' home countries' capital cities: Copenhagen (Co), Brussels ...
.
In the classical dance form
Bharata Natyam
''Bharatanatyam'' is a Indian classical dance form that came from Tamil Nadu, India. It is a classical dance form recognized by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, and expresses South Indian religious themes and spiritual ideas of Hinduism and Jainism. ...
the snake dance is performed in a manner similar to the old folk dance.
References
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External links
Paampu attam or Snake danceSnake dance movements in Bharathanatyam
Tamil dance styles