# Children revive traditional Pulikali with banana leaves in Kurampala 2026-08-26T06:02:20+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 2 independent outlets Children in Kurampala, Pandalam, are reviving the traditional Pulikali folk performance this Onam. The young performers travel door-to-door wearing costumes made from dried banana leaves and handmade tiger masks. Children dressed as hunters accompany them with toy guns, recreating the village tiger-hunt sequence that symbolises good triumphing over evil. Thrissur and Palakkad host larger Pulikali events with elaborate body paint taking up to seven hours. The Kurampala initiative uses locally available materials, making it an eco-friendly version of the 200-year-old tradition linked to the royal era of Cochin. Thiruvonam, the main day of Onam, falls on August 26, 2026. ## Indian Opinion Analysis ABPLive frames the story as a grassroots revival: children using banana leaves and handmade masks to keep the tradition alive door-to-door. Business Today instead profiles the established Thrissur-scale Pulikali, emphasising elaborate body paint, drum beats and the 200-year royal heritage. Neither is critical of any actor, but the two pieces present different facets of the same festival. ABPLive omits the older, paint-heavy version, Business Today omits the eco-friendly children's initiative. Together they show a tradition that survives both as a mass spectacle and as a simple village practice. ## Coverage Coverage: 2 sources, 2 neutral - news.abplive.com (neutral report) Leads with children's eco-friendly revival, omits the mature paint-based tradition - businesstoday.in (neutral report) Leads with elaborate body paint and 200-year royal history, omits children's version This brief was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above, so one read covers every framing they carry. Updated: this story now draws on 2 sources. Last updated 2026-08-27T02:06:41+00:00. Tags: Kerala, Kurampala, Onam, Pandalam, Pulikali Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/kerala-children-revive-pulikali-folk-tradition-for-onam/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/kerala-children-revive-pulikali-folk-tradition-for-onam/#story-in-brief How this brief was made: an AI model read the reports linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. Stance labels are editorial classifications of how each outlet framed this story, assigned by the same model, not ratings of the outlets. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/