Erode: No Kattikal can see Attam without fear because the traditional Tamil folk dance form requires great balance skills from artists because they dance with two feet high wooden stilts tied with their feet.Then, what about someone to watch with legs tied to such wooden stilts, climbing steps with steps? A viewer can breathe, but not these children.In the Erode District, a group of boys and girls is demonstrating their balance skills by climbing steps at 1,320, which is tied with wooden stilts to their feet with the Chennailai Murugan temple.Ganapathipalayam’s Shankar, who has four decades experience as a Kattikal Atom artist, is trained by children over four years of age to climb the steps of the 1,320 temple standing on wooden stilts. With the help of Ujavan Kalikuzu organization, he is trained to move them and get down. The final goal is to help children set records one day. The group is also planning to climb the hills in the nearby forest in fashion.
Shankar said, “Such steps will improve the ability to create better balance in children’s ability when dancing on flat surfaces.”Apart from Kattikal Attam, Shankar is teaching children to teach children other art forms such as Valli Kumi dance, Salangai Attam and Perunjalangai Attam.
