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Performing Art · Karnataka

Hulivesha

Karnataka's 'tiger dance' — performers painted in bold tiger stripes prowl and leap through the streets during Dasara.

Understand

Where Hulivesha comes from

Hulivesha, meaning 'tiger guise', is a folk performance in which dancers have their bodies painted with tiger markings, associated especially with Dasara and temple festival processions in southern and coastal Karnataka.

How it's practiced

Performers undergo hours of body painting before dancing through the streets in tiger-like movements, drumming and crowds following the procession.

Karnataka's 'tiger dance' — performers painted in bold tiger stripes prowl and leap through the streets during Dasara.

From discovery to practice

The Journey

01

Understand

Where Hulivesha comes from, why it started, and what it means today.

02

See it

Catch it live at Dasara.

03

Experience it

Request a booking to watch Hulivesha performed live — with the option to meet the practitioners afterwards.

04

Practice

Hire Hulivesha performers for your community, college or government event.

Experience it

Book the Hulivesha experience

Want to watch Hulivesha performed live? Tell us when and where you'd like to experience it, and we'll confirm the details.

Bring it to your event

Hire Hulivesha performers for your community, college or government event

Every performer WRIKSH connects you with has been personally verified. Tell us the occasion — a community celebration, a college festival, a government program — and we'll find the right group.

See it

Festivals where Hulivesha lives

Karnataka · September/October

Dasara

Karnataka's ten-day state festival built around the Mysuru Palace, culminating in a torch-lit procession where a bejewelled elephant carries the Chamundeshwari idol through the old city.

Explore further

More traditions of Karnataka

Veerabhadra Kunitha

Karnataka

Veerabhadra Kunitha

A vigorous ritual dance in devotion to Veerabhadra, danced with fierce energy at temple festivals across Karnataka.

Dollu Kunitha

Karnataka

Dollu Kunitha

A vigorous drum dance from northern Karnataka, performed by troupes beating large dollu drums in acrobatic formation.

Veeragase

Karnataka

Veeragase

A high-energy devotional dance re-enacting Veerabhadra's mythic fury, performed with sword and elaborate costume.

Hire performers of Hulivesha for your event