‘Kudla Dasara Bale, Pili Vesha Thule! DC Permits Limited Tiger Dance Acts during ‘Dasara’
- ‘Kudla Dasara Bale, Pili Vesha Thule! Deputy Commissioner Dr K V Rajendra Permits Limited Tiger Dance Performances during ‘Kudla Dasara’, a decision taken by him during a meeting held on 13 October amidst The Dakshina Kannada District Dharmika Parishat
Mangaluru: Perhaps it is the isolation provided by the string of mountains and dense forests that surround it, or the mythologies that have developed from local epics, but what is certain is that festivities in south coastal Karnataka are filled with unique traditions. So, while Kudla aka Mangaluru followed the rest of the country in turning out at temples during the Dasara season, it also puts ‘Pili Vesha’ or ‘Huli Vesha’. Set to the resonating ‘thaase’ (traditional drum), figures painted as ‘Pili’ (Tulu word for tiger/Huli in Kannada) are a common sight outside homes and on roads. Completely painted in yellow and brown stripes from head to toe, a bunch of professional troupes, all mimicking tigers, will go door-to-door.
Pili Vesha/Pili Nalike in Tulu “Tiger Masque” is a folk dance performed during Navaratri to honour the Goddess Durga whose favoured animal is the tiger. Dasara in Mangaluru is one of the festivals during which a large number of enthusiasts participate in this ritual. It originated in Udupi District of Karnataka and initially performed during the Krishna Janmashtami/Mosaru kudike and Ganesha Chaturthi at Mangaluru, Udupi, Moodabidri, Kundapur and many other places in Tulu Nadu.
Typically, young males form troops of five to ten members or more, which will have three to five males painted and costumed to look like tigers, and a band called thaase in Tulu with two or three drummers. This troop is accompanied by the manager of the group. During Navratri, these troops will be roaming the streets of their towns, with the accompanying drum beats of their bands. They stop at homes and businesses or on the roadsides to perform for about ten minutes after which they collect some money from the people who have observed their performance. The troops perform until the last day of Navratri, and almost all of them form part of the Sharada processions organized by various temples such as Mangaladevi, Gokarnanatheshwara and Venkatramana temple.
Dasara brought with it the age-old tradition of the pili vesha in coastal Karnataka, of course, now more influenced by reality dance shows!, but due to the Pandemic the District Administration has banned Tiger Dance during this year’s Dasara, which has upset many, and one organization named the ‘Dasara Shobhayatre Samiti, Mangaladevi Temple, Mangaluru on 8 October had urged the district administration to permit token performance of Pili Vesha or Huli Vesha during the Navaratri chariot festivals of Mangaladevi and Mariyamma temples. Samiti president Dilraj Alva and members had submitted a memorandum to Deputy Commissioner K.V. Rajendra in the matter here. It is learnt that the Deputy Commissioner heard them patiently and assured them of considering the demand during a meeting of temple administrations on October 13.
Alva speaking to Team Mangalorean had said that the Samiti held a meeting on l7 October in view of the restrictions imposed by the administration on the festivities. It decided to deploy one member each from 10 Pili Vesha teams of the region for the token performance, and this was narrated to the DC, but he still insisted on having the discussions on the topic during the temple administrations meet on 13 October. Out of the many teams, the ten Pili Vesha teams selected for this year’s Dasara are- Mulluhithlu Games Team; Mulihithlu Friends Circle; Adhi Maheshwari Friends Circle; Yemmekere Friends Circle; Young Guys Goraksha Dandu; New Yuvaka Mandala- Marnamikatta; Baby Raj Friends-Garodi; Geleyara Balaga -Arekerebail; and Mulihithlu Friends Tigers.
During the meeting DC took the decision to permit Token performance of Pili Vesha allowed during Dasara festivities, and that only 10 participants per temple can perform Pili Vesha during Navaratri day this year. The Dakshina Kannada District Dharmika Parishat gave conditional approval to Pili Vesha (tiger dance) performances during the Navaratri celebrations. As per the parishat press release it stated that the meeting chaired by Deputy Commissioner K.V. Rajendra who decided to allow only 10 participants per temple to perform the traditional Pili Vesha as part of fulfilling duties inside premises of temples concerned. There should be strict adherence to COVID-19 protocols, including sanitisation of temple premises and use of sanitizes, Bursting of crackers is also not permitted, the parishat said.
Legal action would be initiated against the management of temples if any of the protocols were violated during the Pili Vesha performances, the release said. Meanwhile the parishat said that there should not be any public performance of Pili Vesha outside temples nor there could be bursting of crackers. The DC and the Parishath took this decision after Various Pili Vesha troupes had urged the district administration to allow the performance of Pili Vesha during the Navaratri/ Dasara festivities as it has been part and parcel of the celebrations in the region.
It should be noted that Kudla aka Mangaluru Dasara has special recognition after Mysuru Dasara, with the tiger dance aka Pili Nalike as a unique feature of the festivity, which cheers up the crowd- and every year thousands of devotees from far and near throng Mangaluru for this great festival- but this due to the pandemic, it will be a low-key affair. Anyways, having a token tiger dance performance is something better than nothing, which will make the people happy, since it has been a part of the Dasara tradition for ages.
