Keralam’s Thrissur goes wild as ‘tigers’ take the streets for Pulikkali

As nearly 450 tigers roared in unison, the dark clouds that had gathered overhead slowly drifted away. Down below, the tiger packs emerged from their dens.Thrissur erupted into colour, rhythm and raw energy on Saturday (August 29, 2026) as its own iconic Pulikkali brought the curtains down on the city’s Onam celebrations.A threat of rain had hung over the festivities. There were light showers from the morning. But neither the clouds nor the drizzle could tame the mood.By afternoon, nearly 450 human tigers from nine Pulikkali deshams began marching towards the heart of Keralam’s cultural capital. At around 4 p.m., Youth Affairs and Sports Minister O.J. Janeesh flagged off the festivities at Swaraj Round, setting the stage for an evening of roaring drums, dancing tigers and delirious crowds.Annual spectacleMore than a festival, Pulikkali is one of Thrissur’s biggest annual spectacles after the famous Thrissur Pooram. Weeks of preparation had gone into the grand show — painstaking body painting, rehearsals for the pulsating pulikkottu drums and elaborate trials of colourful floats. Pulikkali held in Thrissur on Saturday. | Photo Credit: K.K. Najeeb “There is always a healthy rivalry among the participating teams,” said P.M. Shanavas, president of the Ollukkara Desam Pulikkali Sangam. “Teams compete to secure the best performers, body-art painters and drummers. We also keep the themes of our floats under wraps until the moment of the performance.”Each team had more than 50 performers. Children and women, dressed as tigers, added fresh colour and excitement to the spectacle.Special attractionOne of the special attractions this year came from the debutant Ollukkara Desam team — a mother-and-son duo from Kottarakkara in Kollam. Deepalakshmi and her son Yathi travelled all the way to Thrissur to become part of the legendary tiger dance.“For years, Thrissur’s Pulikkali and Kummattikali have remained etched in my mind,” Ms. Deepalakshmi said. “When I realised that women, too, could take part in Pulikkali, I began thinking about wearing the tiger costume.” Pulikkali held in Thrissur on Saturday. | Photo Credit: K.K. Najeeb And, as always, the undisputed stars of the show were the famous pot-bellied tigers.The bigger the belly, the happier the painter. A tiger’s face painted across a large, rounded stomach comes alive when the performer dances. With every beat of the drum, the belly vibrates, making the painted tiger change expressions in a wonderfully comic and dramatic display.The celebrations this year also came against the backdrop of a recent controversy over Pulikkali. Actor and writer V.K. Sreeraman drew widespread criticism after describing the traditional spectacle in a Facebook post as an “artistic distortion” and criticising the performers’ exaggerated bellies and chests as distasteful. His remarks triggered criticism from various quarters.Thousands poured into Swaraj Round from across Keralam to watch the spectacle. Tigers, their bodies painted in striking shades and patterns, wore bells around their waists and danced to the thunderous rhythms of the chenda.Colourful tableauxThe colourful tableaux accompanying the tiger squads added another layer to the carnival. A leaping tiger, scenes inspired by ‘Operation Toofan’, a symbolic web depicting children trapped in mobile-phone addiction, tiger caves, the towering Shiva figure associated with Coimbatore’s Isha Centre, Kurma Avatar and Hanuman — mythology and contemporary life came together in a dazzling visual parade.The nine teams that set Thrissur ablaze were from Viyyur, Kuttankulangara, Patturaikkal, Poonkunnam Seetharam Mill, Chakkamukku, Kanattukara, Ollukkara, Sankaramkulangara and Ayyanthole.For centuries, Pulikkali was largely a male domain. But the growing presence of women, children and members of the transgender community is steadily changing the face of this centuries-old folk tradition.On Saturday, however, old traditions and new voices danced to the same drumbeat.And as hundreds of tigers prowled, pranced and roared around Swaraj Round, Thrissur once again proved that when Pulikkali takes over the streets, the city does not merely celebrate Onam. It goes wild.