Photo credits: Ramesh Kidangoor

Ottanthullal is a combination of music, dance and linguistic variations, which is characterized by wit and humor. The most appealing aspect of the performance is the combination of storyteller and dancer in one actor, who effortlessly switches from one to the other.

The Ottanthullal dancer wears colorful skirts, gaudy epaulets, gilded crowns and beaded breastplates, all with green face paint, leading 
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru to once remark that Ottanthullal is “poor man’s Kathakali”.