Amazing Kummattikali at Thrissur

During the festival of Onam, Kummattikali performers move from house to house collecting small gifts and entertaining people. Kummatti dances are rampant in the Thrissur district during Onam.The dancers wear skirts woven out of plaited grass. Some cover their whole body with bunches of grass for a more bushy appearance. Dancers also hold and manipulate long sticks of residuary agricultural produce called ‘Kummattikali’: it is from this that the dance derives its name. Their dance is related to Shaiva myth. ‘Thamma’ (an old woman) walks in front with the help of a stick. Thamma is symbolic of mother of every being and everything.