Mangaluru: 10 tiger dance troupes to compete in the eighth edition of ‘Pili Nalike’ on October 23

Mangaluru: 10 tiger dance troupes to compete in the eighth edition of ‘Pili Nalike’ on October 23

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangaluru, Oct 21, 2023: The eighth edition of ‘Pili Nalike’ (tiger dance) competition of Pili Nalike Prathistana, Mangaluru will be held at the Urwa cricket grounds in Mangaluru on Monday, October 23.

Talking to reporters here on Friday, October 20, president of the Prathistana, Mithun Rai, who is also the General Secretary of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee, said this annual event held during Dasara has grown leaps and bounds since its inception in 2014.

 

“We have not just made this traditional dance form popular across the country, but also helped performers and team members earn regular income from this art form. This event is being held to retain this traditional dance in its pure form,” said Mr. Rai.

As many as 10 teams have been selected to perform on October 23. They are Maruti Vyayama Shale Konchady, Junior Boys Chilimbi, Mulihitlu Games Team, Someshwara Friends Club, Bengre Mogaveera Friends, Mangaluru Friends Tigers, Team Golden Leaf Kavoor, Mulihitlu Friends Circle, Polali Tigers and Gorakshanatha Tigers. The Gorakshanatha Tigers team was the winner, while Polali Tigers team was runners-up in the event held last year. The Bengre Mogaveera team is new team featuring this year.

Event schedule

The programme will start at 10 a.m. Each team comprises of 15 performers. All the performers will get painted in different forms of tiger on the same day. The performance by each team will be for an hour. As per the tradition, females are not allowed to participate in the event, Mr. Rai said.

The winning team will receive a cash prize of ₹5 lakh, while the runners-up and second runners-up teams will receive ₹3 lakh and ₹2 lakh respectively. Cash prize of ₹50,000 will be given to best painter, ‘Kari Huli’ (black tiger), ‘Mari Huli’ (tiger cub), best ‘Tase’ (traditional music instrument), swining of’ ‘Akki ‘Mudi’, and dance. Each participating team will get participation amount of ₹50,000.

As the performance will go on till around midnight, ‘German’ tent will be erected in the ground where seating arrangements for 10,000 people is being made. Celebrities namely veteran actor Sunil Shetty, cricketers Harbhajan Singh and Jonty Rhodes, and popular Kannada actors Rishabh Shetty and Raj Shetty, will attend, he said.

Mr. Rai said this annual Pili Nalike has led D. Vedavyas Kamath, Mangaluru City South MLA, to hold “Pili Parba” for the second successive year. Two tiger dance events each are being held this year in Puttur of Dakshina Kannada and Manjeshwar of Kasaragod district in Kerala.

The last year winner Gorakshanatha Tigers team, has, since last year’s performance, given 42 shows across the country and abroad. “With this, each member has earned more than ₹20,000 per month,” Mr. Rai said.

The Prathistana continues to provide financial aid to tiger dance team members towards education and other needs. It has planned to hold a mega tiger dance programme in Mumbai in April 2024, Mr. Rai said.

Courtesy: The Hindu