Poikkal Kuthirai

Understand

Where Poikkal Kuthirai comes from

Poikkal Kuthirai Aattam (literally 'false-horse dance') is one of the Tamil folk dances from the southern districts, performed in connection with the Mariamman festivals of the Kongunadu and Madurai regions. The dance is closely related to the Rajasthani Kachhi Ghodi and the Marathi Povada — the Tamil equivalent of the dummy-horse tradition of northern and western India. The dance is performed at temple festivals and at weddings and was famously featured in the 1983 Tamil film Poikkal Kudhirai, directed by K. Balachander. Today the dance continues to be performed at temple festivals and at cultural programmes of Tamil folk-dance ensembles.

How it's practiced

Poikkal Kuthirai is performed by men who strap a hollow painted horse-frame around their waist, with the horse's head and neck in front and tail at the back; the dancer's own legs are visible as they perform the prancing horse-step, kicking forward and backward in coordinated patterns that mimic a horse. The dancers often double as drummers — a small drum is strapped to the horse-frame and struck while the dance is in motion. Each dancer also carries a whip, sword or flag and performs mock combat or mock courtship movements. Costume is the colourful dance dress with turban and dhoti, with the horse-frame brightly painted with Tamil decoration motifs.