Peacock Dance (Mayil Attam):

This is done by girls dressed as peacocks, resplendent with peacock feathers and a glittering headdress complete with a beak. This beak can be opened and closed with the help of a thread tied to it, and manipulated from within dress. Other similar dances are, Kaalai Attam (dressed as a bull), Karadi Attam (dressed as a bear) , Dog Aattam (dressed as a dog) and Komali Aattam (dressed as cartoon) which are performed in the villages during village get-togethers. Vedala Aattam is performed wearing a mask depicting demons.

Dummy Horse (Poikkal Kudirai Aattam):

This is the Dummy Horse Dance where the dancer bears the dummi figure of a horse’s body on his/her hips. This is made of light-

weighted materials and the cloth at the sides’ swings to and fro covering the legs of the dancer. The dancer dons wooden legs which sound like the hooves of the horse. The dancer brandishes either a sword or a whip. This folk dance needs much training and skill. This dance is accompanied by Naiyandi melam or Band music. This is connected to the worship of Ayyanar, prevails manily around Thanjavur.

Kaliyattam

Kaliattam is a dance related to goddess KALI. Artist do the make-up like kali and kill the devil(Mahesh or Satan). There are 2 types of performance in the Kaliyattam. one is Pacha Kali(Kali with Green color) and Pavala Kali(Kali with pavalam(red) color) another one is Siva Kaliyattam(Sivan and Kali competition dance).

Tamil Karagattam

Karagam is a folk dance with musical accompaniment, performed balancing a pot on the head. Traditionally, this dance was performed

 by the villagers in praise of the rain goddess Mari Amman and river goddess, Gangai Amman, performed with literature with water pots balanced on their heads. Karagams were once performed for mulaipari ceremony when the dancer carried a pot of sprouted grains on his/her head and danced, balancing it through intricate steps and body/arm movements. Today, the pots have transformed from mud pots to bronze ware and even stainless steel in modern times. The pots are decorated with a cone of flower arrangements, topped by a paper parrot. The parrot rotates as the dancer swings along. This dance is very popular all over Tamilnadu, though its birth place is said to be Thanjavur. Most artistes hail from Thanjavur, Pudukottai, Ramanathapuram, Madurai, Tirunelveli, Pattukottai and Salem. This dance is danced by an individual or two persons. Both male and female performers participate in this. Acrobatics similar to circus are included – such as dancing on a rolling block of wood, up and down a ladder, threading a needle while bending backwards and so on.

Dr.Pushpavanam Kuppusamy

Popular Tamil Folk Singer

Puspavanam Kuppusamy is one of the leading Tamil Folk singers. He has several prestigious titles to his credit. He is the pompous recipient of the State Award -Kalaimamani in 1997 given by the Tamil Nadu Eyalisai Nataka Mandram.

Besides these he has other prestigious titles like Arulisai Thendral, Ezhutchi Tamil Isai Mani, Gramiya Isai Arasu, Nattupura Nallisai Nayagan, Tamizh Isai panar and many more. He is also possesses a doctorate in Music.

His research is on "Tamil Folk Music", which is the basis for the growth of classical music. His spouse Anita Kuppusamy is also a music post-graduate, and jointly the pair has released more than 200 albums in Tamil Folk, Worship & Tamizh Iisai Songs.

To Conduct TAMIL OYILATTAM in your area contact us

To conduct Tamil Villu Pattu contact us