A 25-member Poo Kavadi troupe from Kerala’s Alappuzha district, which performs ritual folk dance at temple festivals, has gained widespread recognition and is being swamped by invitations from foreign countries.
After wrapping up its recent trips to Macau and the UAE, the troupe — known as Sree Brahma Kala Samithi — is gearing up to visit Europe to take part in temple festivals and wedding ceremonies.
Poo Kavadi, which originates in South Paravoor in Ernakulam district, is traditionally performed as part of the worship of Lord Murugan. Devotees carry pots decorated with flowers and weighing up to 15kg on their heads or shoulders and dance to the tune of Malayalam, Tamil and Hindi songs.
The Sree Brahma Kala Samithi was founded by 27-year-old V.S. Sachin, a diploma holder in network engineering. Driven by his passion for dance, Sachin set up the organisation with six other partners in 2014. Now all of them earn between ₹50,000 and ₹70,000 per month.
Sachin told The Telegraph that performing at Macau and Dubai was an unforgettable experience for the troupe.
“The Macau government had invited us to perform Poo Kavadi. It was a week-long trip coinciding with the Chinese New Year. We met artistes from 12 countries, including Spain, Italy and South Korea. We got ₹10,000 per day for our performance. The organisers insisted that we dance to the tune of Chinese songs. We agreed because music is a universal language. People were enamoured by our balancing skills as the flower pots weigh around 15kg each. We placed them on our shoulders and swayed with the music,” Sachin said.
The troupe had also received an invitation from France, but could not make it as the dates clashed with the Macau trip.
Currently, they are awaiting the final confirmation of the itinerary for the upcoming Europe trip.
The troupe recently performed at a wedding in Siliguri where they danced to the beats of Bollywood songs and enthralled the guests.
Sachin and his troupe have performed in 14 states in India after the end of the temple festival season in Kerala from November to May. Their dance at the Lakme Fashion Week in New Delhi and the Birla Fashion Week in Mumbai last year had left the audience spellbound.
