Kalavayal

Onam holds a special importance in the lives of Malayalis. It is essentially a harvest festival. Hence it brings good cheer to the hearts of the people of Kerala who celebrate the agricultural plenty they have been blessed with and also welcome the New Year, Kolavarsham that starts on Onam day. This festival is so significant in their lives that festivities go on from 4-10 days. After the Sadya or the many-coursed festive meal, music rents the air and the men indulge in various sporting activities. Women too partake in the gaiety with their own brand of merry making. Dances such as Kaikottaikali and Thumbi Thullal are performed by the young women amidst cheers and laughter.

The women are dressed in new clothes. Decked in the traditional off-white silk saree with a golden border, the women look resplendent in the sleek, golden ornaments and jasmine strings. Every thing about them reflects the tender joy and high spirits in their hearts. Thus clad, they perform the Thumbi Thullal. It is a song -dance event in which the women form a circle and play. A woman chosen the "Thumbi" sits in the center of this circle and is the lead performer. She starts to sing a song and the other women join in after the first couplet is sung by the Thumbi. They clap rhythmically to the songs and sway to its melody.

About six to seven girls form the circle in Thumbi Thullal. The Thumbi holds a few Thumba leaves, bunched together. These leaves grow on the Thumba, a flowering shrub that grows well in Kerala. She hides her face in these leaves and moves to and fro to the song’s beat. The songs are usually fast paced and as the tempo increases, the thumbi brushes the floor almost like a possessed person. The song then gradually slows and ends. After the onlookers have cheered and the performers laughed their fill, the sequence of initiation by the thumbi and the others lending chorus starts again. There are specific songs sung while the Thumbi Thullal is performed.

It is indeed heartening to see the woman of the hearth and home in such a jocund, carefree mood. The song and dance lifts their spirits and the Onam is celebrated with fond enthusiasm.