Folk Dance and Music
Folk Dance and Music
Dance in Jharkhand is not performance but participation. Almost every festival has its own dance, performed at the village akhra to the beat of the mandar and nagara, and the best known of them, Chhau, carries a UNESCO listing.
Best known dance — Chhau, Seraikela style | Main drums — mandar and nagara | Venue — the village akhra
The main folk dances
| Dance | Occasion or community | Feature |
|---|---|---|
| Chhau | Seraikela style, Seraikela-Kharsawan | Masked dance drama with martial movement |
| Paika | Martial tradition | Men dance with sword and shield |
| Jhumar | Nagpuri and Sadan belt | Line and circle dance with song |
| Karma | Karma festival, Bhadra | Circle dance around the karam branch |
| Sarhul or Baha | Sarhul festival, spring | Dance with sal and mahua flowers |
| Domkach | Weddings | Performed mainly by women of the household |
| Santhali group dances | Santhal community | Line dance with tamak and tumdak drums |
| Tusu | Tusu festival, Makar Sankranti | Sung and danced mainly by young women |
Chhau in detail
- Jharkhand's style is the Seraikela Chhau of Seraikela-Kharsawan districtबार-बार पूछा जाता है
- It is a masked dance drama combining martial movement, dance and story
- The other styles are Purulia Chhau in West Bengal and Mayurbhanj Chhau in Odisha
- Chhau was inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of intangible cultural heritage in 2010
- It is traditionally performed around the Chaitra Parva festival in spring
- Mask making itself is a distinct craft tradition of the Seraikela area
Musical instruments
- Mandar — the two-sided clay drum, the signature instrument of the region
- Nagara — large kettle drum played with sticks
- Dhak, Dhol and Dhamsa — other large drums used in processions
- Tamak and Tumdak — Santhal drums played together
- Banam and Tirio — Santhal string and wind instruments
- Shehnai, Narsingha, Bansuri and Bheri — wind instruments of festivals
- Jhanjh, Kartal and Ghanta — metal percussion used with the drums
How music and dance work socially
- The akhra is the village dancing ground and also its meeting place
- Dances mark the agricultural calendar rather than a stage season
- Youth dormitories such as dhumkuria traditionally trained young people in song and dance
- Songs carry oral history, farming knowledge and social rules
- Men and women dance together in most forms, in lines or circles
More dance forms worth a line
- Jadur — an Oraon dance of the Sarhul season
- Natua — an acrobatic dance of the eastern belt
- Firkal — a martial dance of the Kolhan side
- Matha — a dance form of the Manbhum facing districts
- Jhumta and Mardana Jhumar — variants of the Jhumar family
- Chhau Nach akhara — the training group where masks and steps are taught
अखरा गांव का नृत्य स्थल है, जहां पर्व-त्योहार के अवसर पर सामूहिक नृत्य होता है। मांदर और नगाड़ा इस क्षेत्र के सबसे प्रमुख वाद्य हैं।
Memory hook — Char nritya, char avsar — Chhau = Chaitra, Karma = Bhadra, Sarhul = vasant, Tusu = Makar Sankranti. Aur do vaadya — Mandar aur Nagara.
Yahan confuse hote hain — Chhau ki teen shailiyan teen rajyon me hain.
✗ Chhau is only a Jharkhand dance | ✓ Jharkhand has Seraikela Chhau; Purulia Chhau is in West Bengal and Mayurbhanj Chhau in Odisha
✗ Mandar ek tar wala vaadya hai | ✓ Mandar ek dhol hai; tar wala vaadya Banam hai
Exam pointer — JSSC CGL, JTGLCCE, JKCE aur JTET me nritya-avsar aur vaadya ka matching seedha aata hai — aasan aur pakka number. JPSC me Chhau ka UNESCO saal aur Seraikela shaili poochhi jaati hai. Do table yaad kar lo, ye topic khatam.
Ek nazar me
- Seraikela Chhau — masked dance drama of Jharkhand
- Chhau on the UNESCO list since 2010
- Other styles — Purulia and Mayurbhanj Chhau
- Paika — martial dance with sword and shield
- Jhumar — Nagpuri and Sadan belt dance
- Karma — around the karam branch in Bhadra
- Sarhul or Baha — spring dance with sal flowers
- Drums — mandar, nagara, dhak, tamak, tumdak
- Strings and wind — banam, tirio, shehnai, narsingha
- Village venue — the akhra