Oachirakali

Oachirakali Dance Kerala
Oachirakali Dance Kerala

Oachirakali is another dance in which mass mock combat is performed. The dance is named after the village named Oachira which has the temple of Lord Parabrahma. A five-day festival is is held every year around the middle of June. The festival is quite popular and thousands attend it either as spectators or as worshipers. It is believed that if worship is done here childlessness and a score of diseases will be cured. Several troupes of Oachirakali come to perform during the festival. Each troupe has a leader and the dance is performed to the leader’s verbal commands called Vayttari. The commands are in the form of nonsensical syllables which the dancers repeat loudly and perform the set movements. The group mock fight is the enactment of a legendary war. According to a local legend Kayamkulam Raja, a medieval ruler of the kingdom in which Oachira village is located, fought a battle with the then king of Tranvancore. The dance is re-enactment of that battle.