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Puli Kali (the tiger dance), in which performers paint their bodies like tigers, is the main attraction of which festival?
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Answer: Option A — Onam
Detailed Solution
Puli Kali, meaning "the play of the tigers", is a colourful folk art performed during the Onam festival in Kerala. Its most famous celebration is held in the city of Thrissur on the fourth day of Onam (Nalaam Onam), when hundreds of performers dressed as tigers dance through the streets around the Swaraj Round, near the Vadakkunnathan Temple.
In Puli Kali, the performers, usually men, paint their bodies with bright yellow, black, orange and red colours to look like tigers, leopards and hunters, with stripes, spots and faces painted on their bellies. They wear masks of tigers' faces, and some performers wear large artificial bellies. The painting takes many hours and is done by skilled artists, using a mixture of tempera powder and varnish. The performers dance to the loud and rhythmic beats of traditional percussion instruments, such as the "udukku" and the "thakil", imitating the movements of tigers, such as hunting, stalking and leaping, and playful scenes such as a hunter chasing a tiger. Each troupe represents a local area of the city and competes for prizes for the best costumes, painting and performance, and the procession is accompanied by decorated floats (tableaux).
Puli Kali is believed to have been started more than 200 years ago by Maharaja Rama Varma, known as Sakthan Thampuran, the ruler of the Kingdom of Cochin, who wanted to celebrate Onam with a folk art that showed the "wild and manly" spirit of the people. The art form has also been taken to other parts of Kerala and the world by Malayali communities.
Onam, the state festival of Kerala, is celebrated in the month of Chingam (August-September). Its other attractions include the pookalam (floral carpet), the Onasadya (feast), the Vallam Kali (snake boat races), the Kaikottikali (dance by women) and the Kummattikali (mask dance).
Why not the other options?
- ✗Vishu is the New Year festival of Kerala, celebrated with the Vishukkani.
- ✗Thrissur Pooram is the temple festival of Thrissur, famous for its elephants and fireworks.
- ✗Christmas is celebrated by Christians in December.
Quick tip
Remember: Puli Kali = Onam, Thrissur, the fourth day of Onam and Sakthan Thampuran.
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Festivals & Fairs of India — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Festivals & Fairs of India, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers the religious, harvest, tribal and cultural festivals of India, the fairs (melas) held across the country, and the states, communities and seasons linked to them. It also includes festivals listed by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage, such as Kumbh Mela and Durga Puja in Kolkata. Most questions ask which state celebrates a festival, which tribe it belongs to, or what event it marks. Harvest festivals are especially common: Pongal (Tamil Nadu), Onam (Kerala), Bihu (Assam), Lohri and Baisakhi (Punjab) and Nuakhai (Odisha). Fairs such as the Pushkar camel fair (Rajasthan) and the Sonepur cattle fair (Bihar) are also frequently tested. Revise festivals state by state. Practise the festivals and fairs questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.