Pullikalli (Tiger play ) was originally started by the military personnel in Trichur to dance after a binge during the Onam holidays. Now it is more of a tradition to wear the masks and dance through the streets.
Flower Power
Floral decoration in front of every home is a must during Onam season and the trucks from Tamil Nadu dump these flowers to street vendors.
Chenda Melam
The kind of drums seen in Southern India is called "Chenda". Performed by male drummers, mainly from the Marar community during the temple festivals.
Chembarathy
Chembarathy is every where..In the backyards,fence and even on the ears of the oracle.
The Vegetable Market
The drizzling rain don't dampen the shopping spirit in the vegetable market. Despite the fact that Kerala's economy is mainly agricultural, the state grows only about half the rice and vegetables it needs.
The Lion King
Painted up as a lion in a thoughtful mood before the dance. In this highly competitive dance, the dancers has to sit through hours of painful painting and it will be more than couple of weeks before all the paint is removed from the body.
The Lourdes Church
One of the rare Catholic churches in Kerala with a basement church. Christianity in Kerala is as old as the faith itself, for St. Thomas, the Apostle landed in Kodungallur (then known to the world as Musiris near present day Cochin) in 52 A.D.
The Lamp
The centuries old multi-staged lamp in front of Vadakkumnathan temple. Till the beginning of the century, the temples were closed for the lower caste hindus, prompting Swami Vivekanada to label Kerala "a mad house of caste". Kerala is one of the lowest caste ridden states now, thanks to Sree Narayana Guru and other peasant movements.
The left over sale
The poor migrants from the neighboring state engaged in left over sale of the vegetables. The billions pumped into the Kerala economy by the Non Resident Keralites has made Kerala an "El dorado" for these migrants, while Keralites seek their own "El dorado" in gulf and elsewhere ..
Onam Sadhya
Served in banana leaves the all vegetarian feast is a must at Onam day .Keralites like to "feel" the food by eating with their hands. The food items in the picture are red rice,sambar,pappad,kalan,ellassery,aviyal,koottu curry,inchanpulli,fried banana chips and poovan pazham.
The Ambassador
The ubiquitous Indian made Ambassador cars facing dark monsoon clouds. The liberalization of the economy resulted in a splash of imported cars making the going tough for the indegenous Ambassador.
Paramekkavu Temple
Another hindu temple in Keralite architecture. Temple architecture and the choice of the site, is based on Vastu Shastra - the Vedic science of dwellings and architecture. The spacing of elemental stereo metric shapes and the remarkable perfection of orderliness within the precincts reflect the order of the cosmos in whose likeliness the temple is conceived.
Elephants and Crowd
In the land where people worship the elephant-faced god Lord Ganapathy, grooming elephants was once considered a status symbol. With the decay of the joint family system, supporting elephants became a financial burden for many families and various temple managements take care of them now.
The drummers on stage
The drum beat of "Chenda" is so rhythmic that even pachyderms shake their legs!
Flowers on sale
Imported from Tamil Nadu these flowers are the primary source for floral decoration for the city dwellers. Blessed with a congenial climate for commercial orchid cultivation, city dwellers in Kerala prefer to grow orchid flowers in their backyards - for export only.
Temple in night
Dimly lit Vadakkumnathan temple open for believers. The 9 th century Advaita philosopher Adi Sankara, who established the four "madhams" in Sringeri,Puri,Dwaraka and Jyothirmath was born in Kaladi,Thrissur and supposedly spent his last days in this temple. Though Sankara had rejuvenated hinduism, casteism had grown stronger in India after Sankara's dig-vijaya.
Rowers
The rowers getting ready for the final race in the Canoli canal. Laced by 41 rivers, hundreds of canals, and thousands of ponds, Kerala is a tropical paradise.
The gold jewelers
The gold jewelers makes most of the business in Thrissur town and "Chemmanur" stands tall. Most of the family savings and Gulf money goes to building big concrete homes or for payment of dowry in gold and jewels - which creates jobs for miners in Africa but not for workers in Kerala.
The onam fair
The serpentine queues before the Maveli stores for the government subsidized groceries. Kerala has a very good public distribution system, which effectively controls the price of essential commodities like rice, sugar and kerosene.
Pancha Vadyam
Panchavadyam is played by the synchronisation of five different musical instruments in different pitches into a thrilling synthesis of percussion music. Although, these originally formed part of temple festivals and Hindu religious functions, have now been adapted into Christian festivals, displaying the assimilation of Christians into the Keralite culture. Listen to Panchavadyam music.
The final row
Racing towards the final point the rowers giving their best. Equally competitive in daily life, the people of Kerala, lead the nation in education, health and - some say- ambition
Coconut Trees
The public anxiously waiting for the start of the boat race in KandanShankadavu under the coconut trees. Deriving the name Kerala from the Kera (coconut) tree, the usage of coconut ranges from coir mats to hair oil.
The NRI Home
Again a new NRI home being built on the once paddy field. With a very high population density (Population of Canada squeezed into a state the size of Switzerland) the land is scarce and the agricultural land turns into house plots.
Sree Kerala Varma
A statue of Udayavarma KeralaVarma a.k.a Madraassil theeppeTTa thampuraan dividing the traffic in the busy municipal office road. It was during the tenure of Shaktan thampuran, who ascended the throne of Kochi in 1790, Trichur town was found and rose into prominence.
The Splash
After a float show depicting cave people it is time to take a splash in the lake. Never conquered or put into submission by outsiders, malayalis are proud to be Indian and eager to display the tri-color national flag.
Thattu Kada
When the city gets dark these moving food stalls sprung up from now where. Serving the hot foods they always tastes better. But the best pork, beef, fish and other exotic foods are to be had in the shanty-like structures with a sign on the outside proclaiming 'Kallu' (toddy).
Puthen Palli
Another Catholic church right in the down town close to the busy rice market. Kerala is a medley of faiths: three-fifths Hindu, one-fifth Muslim, one-fifth Christian and the Marxists spread among every community.
Back Waters
Backwaters of Kerala is beautiful and a major tourist attraction. Promoted as "God's own Country" the tourism industry packages the state tourism into aqua tourism, eco tourism, health tourism, culture tourism - attracting around 200,000 foreign tourists annually.
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