They were making history when four women entered the unchallenged male bastion of Pulikkali in 2016. Breaking the 200-year-old male domination, N.A. Vinaya, Divya Divakar, Sakkeena, and Rahna Fatima, performed Pulikkali four years ago here.
Followers
Following the path they had shown, tigresses have been continuing to participate in the event for the third year this time. There was no Pulikkali last year owing to the floods.
Thara of Valappad, Geetha of Cherur, and Parvathy of Machad were the three tigresses participated in the Pulikkali this time.
They were part of the 51-member team of Viyyur Desham. Painting stripes in yellow and black all over their body, they danced along with the male tigers. The crowd welcomed them with huge applause.
Participation of women in Pulikkali was a milestone in the two-century old Onam celebrations, said N.A. Vinaya, one of the first tigresses.
“Our festivals have been reduced to just ‘male celebrations’ over a period. Women have been kept away from all the public celebrations. We wanted to capture the rightful space for women in festivals,” she said.
Ms. Vinaya lamented that even for the third year, only the Viyyur Desham team was ready to take women.
“The authorities should give grace marks for the teams with women in them. We have literally begged the teams to include women.
“It is not that easy to break the gender barriers,” she said.
