Sacred Dance of India

SR No.: 011117
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Mrinalini Sarabhai
Publisher: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan
Publication Year: 1979
Total Pages: 48
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 8 MB

Page 46

FORTY-TWO
Dummy Horse (Tamil Nadu)
Kavadıattam (Tamil Nadu)
The Nagas of Assam, elaborately clad, carry spears and baskets decked with the horns of bison They dance, their brass ornaments shining, and their head-dresses glittering as they move Chanting is their main accompaniment, invoking age-old customs of tribal rituals
Every tribe has dance as their main recreation, and some of the most fascinating are those of the aboriginals The Scnihals, the Khonds, the Oraons, the Bondo-Porajas, the Hos, each have their own form, yet there is great similarity in the war-dances, and the dances of the women Gentle or fierce in expression it is a gathering together of the community with linked arms in circular movements and stately steps, showing the dependence of one human being to another The dances of the women especially evoke the timelessness of rhythmic designs These tribal women have hardly changed from the ancient frescoes of Greece On a Greek tomb of 400 B C the chain dance shows women holding each other by the hand, dressed in costumes similar to the Indian odhni and gagas They might be the garba dancers of Gujarat or the Toda women of the hills Was it not a Greek poet who wrote that it is only right that one dances in these ceremonies, for our ancestors demanded that each part of the body feel impregnated with devotional fervour?
It was not only the Gods who are worshipped through the dance The Madal Puja of Bengal is an offering to the drum as representing the divine rhythm of the universe The dance of the bliss of marriage in Mymensingh, is a masked dance called Bura-Bur, in which an old couple rejoice in the union and celebrate their harmonious life together The very opposite is the Moria dance where a couple quarrel with each other, also hidden behind masks The Gambhtra of West Bengal, another mask-dance, depicts social events in humorous vein
There are also dances of love as in the Nongkrem, the festival of the Khasts of Assam, where young women select their husbands Beautifully dressed are the young women in colourful attire and silver head-dresses In song and dance she discovers 'the husband of first love' that will bind her beloved to her for-ever