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Photo: R. Eswarraj

Tiger tiger burning bright Hulivesha is one of the popular folk dances of Dakshina Kannada

It was a real pain for him to let go of the paint, both physically and at an emotional level too. He had just rubbed his skin with sand paper to remove the paint after applying kerosene.

“Otherwise it will take three or four days to remove the paint,” he explains. He was ready to take the pain for he wanted to get rid of it fast. On the other hand, he had almost come to believe himself to be a tiger after being in the garb for so many hours. But then he had to return to his regular life. The tiger had to stop roaring to be the bus driver that he is, once again.

Madhava was one of the hundreds of Mangaloreans who had to fulfil a vow and appease his family deity. The vow was that he would paint his body to look like a tiger (huli in Kannada). Those who do this are known as Hulivesha Dhaaries in the local parlance.

Most of them are attached to troupes that often enact episodes of the tiger teaching its cubs the ways of the jungle. Or a leaf taken from the fight between two adults tigers.

The best performer often gets a reward from patrons and the man with the maximum number of garlands of money is considered the king of the troupe. Towards the end of the day’s performance, the winner is offered the centre stage to dance. The unwritten rule is that when the king dances, no other member does.

The troupes take part in processions organised on the last day of Dasara (Vijaya Dashami) taken through the main roads of the city. They lead the way, with idols of goddesses following them.

Hulivesha is one of the popular folk dances of the Dakshina Kannada region, along with Yakshagana and Bootaaradhana. This form is performed only on two occasions — Navaratri and Krishna Janamashtami.

“Every step in the dance has its own meaning. Mythology has it that the goddesses Durga performed a dance before killing the evils. The dance which we perform is a tribute paid to goddesses for making our life happy,” says B. Kamalakha, owner of Kamalaksha and Party (one of Mangalore’s oldest troupes).

Then there are those who put on the vesha only to make money. The performers prefer to dance only where they get more money. Some troupes dance to Bollywood and Sandalwood numbers, though most have retained traditional band sets. For Madhava, life begins during the festivities in the morning, with his body being painted. His group gets together at the temple where the goddess’s idol is installed. After their first performance, they get blessings from the goddess, and the troupe is divided into small groups.

They go from one shop to another performing the acrobatics and dance and collect money from shop owners. They try to get back what they have invested for the paint and other paraphernalia. It is estimated that more than six lakh is needed for a troupe of about 25 dancers and 20 drummers. The day for the tiger-skinned man ends the next dawn when he has to remove the colour. “It is the most painful part of the whole performance. I feel that this skin (layer of paint) is very much a part of me,” says Madhava. Then he has a bus to drive for a living.

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