Chhattisgarh is a land of cultural diversity and many ancient
tribes that are believed to be the very sons of the soils have survived on this
land ever since one can ever recall. These tribes have their own distinct ways
of worshipping their deities and the most common feature being the tribal
dance. Depicting the authentic culture and tradition of Chhattisgarh, these
tribal dances form an integral part of the Performing Arts of Chhattisgarh.
There are many dance performances of these tribal communities that they display
in a very quaint manner based on a particular theme.
In Chhattisgarh, there are numerous tribal dance forms which
include the ‘Dandari’, ‘Gendi’, 'Bhagoriya’,’Sela’,’Karma’,’Panthi’, ‘Damkach’
and ‘Nacha’ among many others. Among the different Chhattisgadia dance forms,
Karma dance is quite popular among the Gonds, the Baigas and the Oraons. This
specially performed dance form is associated with the Karma festival which is
celebrated sometime around the month of August. It is symbolic of the fecundity
of Nature that manifests itself in the greenery and fruitfulness that marks the
advent of spring.
This Chhattisgadia dance form is a unique dance form where
the men and women sometimes dance round a tree. The men lances forward with the
resounding beat of the drums and bend low to the ground, whereas the women try
to match their steps to keep pace with the rhythm. A group of singer belt out
the songs.
There are a number of variations in the Karma Tribal Dance. This
dance form has been adopted and personalized by a number of tribes. The
Majhwars belonging to the district of Sarguja performs the Karma dance to mark
the beginning and the end of the rainy season. The Gonds and the Baigas, belonging
to the Mandla and Bilaspur districts, need to pretext to break into a jig. In
some places the Karma Tribal Dance is revved up by the accompaniment of the
musical instruments like Thumki, the Payri, the Chhalla and the Jhumki.
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| Sable Badiya |
The
Karma Tribal Dance is perhaps the oldest form of dance practiced by the
Adivasis of Madhya Pradesh. The famous Dandya dance of Gujarat is believed to
have evolved from Dandari, the basic difference between the two is that in
Dandari the artists use antlers of Deer instead of sticks. While Gendi is the
only Chhattisgadia dance form in India that uses stilts, Sela is performed with
wooden sticks or poles. The dances are performed to the enchanting tunes of
love songs in company of musical instruments like the tabla (drum), thali
(plates) and bansuri (flute). The participants wear scintillatingly colorful
costumes, ornaments and bright headgear, which from the most important
characteristic of the tribal dances. To add more charm to already colorful
dance performances ghungroos and tiny tinkling bells are tied to body, which
create a heart warming musical sounds making the environment livelier.
