Sacred Dance of India

Author(s): Mrinalini Sarabhai
Publisher: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan

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Folk Dance (Tripura)
Folk Dance (Arunachal Pradesh) Similarly, in Maharashtra, the folk form, the 'Tamasha' flourished especially during the reign of Baji Rao II (1795-1818) The dancer of the Tama. sha has a style of her own, saucy and eloquent She is known as the 'Navchi' and is one of the most popular of entertainers
Folk forms have a marvellous unity, conditioned as they are by certain elements The religious festivals are celebrated by dance, as are the festivals of nature such as harvest dances, and the dances of the tribes describing the rhythm of their lives In Kulu, the valley of the Gods, at Dassera time, Lord Raghunathji is worshipped and the dance called the Nattı from the Sanskrit word natya, is performed, which is a colourful spectacle Usually the group of dancers in striking costumes dance together in a circle to the music of pipes (shehnai) and drums (dhol, negara, dholak), trumpets (karual) and gongs (bhana) The shehnar has a peculiar tonal quality, and it is this player who is the leader of the orchestra Songs tell us of the life of the people and there is always a round dance performed by the men with a fine display of technique, known as the 'Kharait' The Nättis are a series of dances of thirteen variations performed by both men and women It is interesting that the goddess of Kulu is the Rakshası Hidamba, the Devi of Manalı, and the festival cannot begin without the presence of this powerful deity Kulu is a land filled with stories of the heroes of the Mahabharata and the Ramayana The whole episode of Kırata-Arjuna, when the latter performed the penance, that was to lead him to a great battle against Shiva, and to his receiving the sacred bow, the Pasupata, took place near Indrakila in Kulu At the great 'yagna' performed by Dasaratha, a Kulu priest officiated, and it is said that the last journey of the Pandavas to the heavenly abode was through the valley of this ancient region
Folk dances are usually a series of rhythmic group movements, the rhythm itself suggesting the movement, the tempo and the nature of each dance Slowly out of what once must have been a disorderly pattern has grown what, today, we call dancing of the people, thus differentiating it from the technique and strict patterns of the classical schools where, through the centuries, people have formed a highly evolved composition of rhythmic