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Performing Art · Puducherry
Pavai (Puducherry)
The mask-dance of the Tamil Christian community of Puducherry — performed by the men of the community at the religious celebration of the village, in the tradition of the French-Tamil Catholic synthesis of the region.
Understand
Pavai is the mask-dance of the Tamil Catholic community of Puducherry (the small former French colony with a centuries-old Catholic tradition), performed by the men of the community at the religious celebration. The dance is the regional adaptation of the French-Catholic mask-dance tradition combined with the Tamil folk elements, in the cultural synthesis of the French-Indian heritage. The form is one of the lesser-documented but living traditions of Puducherry and is regularly performed at the cultural programmes of the union territory.
Pavai is performed by men of the Tamil Catholic community at the central courtyard of the village or at the open ground of the religious celebration. The men wear the mask of the character and perform the small steps of the mask-dance in coordinated sequences. Music is the dhol, the shehnai and the small cymbals. Costume is the everyday Tamil Catholic dress — the dhoti-kurta. Performances are at the central courtyard and at the cultural programmes of the union territory.
The mask-dance of the Tamil Christian community of Puducherry — performed by the men of the community at the religious celebration of the village, in the tradition of the French-Tamil Catholic synthesis of the region.
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