Kummi (Puducherry)

Understand

Where Kummi (Puducherry) comes from

Kummi is the Tamil women's folk-dance of Puducherry, performed at the marriage and the central festival of the community. The dance is the regional Tamil adaptation of the broader Kummi tradition (the women's circle-dance of Tamil Nadu) and is associated with the social and the cultural life of the Tamil women of Puducherry. The form is regularly performed at the cultural programmes of the union territory and at the regional Tamil community festivals.

How it's practiced

Kummi is performed by women of the Tamil community of Puducherry in a circle at the central courtyard of the host or at the open ground of the festival. The women perform in coordinated clapping steps to the song of the Kummi cycle, without any musical instrument. The dance is gentle, with the small stepping rhythm of the Tamil tradition. Costume is the colourful Tamil sari of the community (the Kanchipuram silk or the cotton sari) and the regional jewellery. Performances are at the marriage and at the cultural programmes of the union territory.