The cultural level has always been fairly high in Kerala and both the middle as well as the upper classes of women fully participate in this another favorite folk dance form. This is the Tiruvathira dance, where the maidens revolve their steps, while standing in a circle and then their palms alternately meets the next girl dancing in rhythmic claps. The dancers also sing a narrative song as they move forward, but in circles.

In Kerala, there is a unique phenomenon of a continuous escalation of folk traditions. Many new things are added every now and then. Originally, the Tiruvathira celebration must have begun as a simple folk song and dance, but later narrative poems having classical quality were written specially for such dances. One of the best examples is the poem on the story of "Shakuntala" written for this dance by Machatt Llyat in the first half of the 19th century.