Folk Dances in Eastern India

Folk Dances in Eastern India

The Eastern part of India has great history of folk dance forms, in different states. These folk dances in Eastern India have their own vitality and virility.

A few of them are Chhau (Bihar), Brita Dance (West Bengal), Goti Paus (Orissa) and Dlkhai (Orissa) are most popular forms of folk dance in Eastern India.

Chhau (Bihar):
This form of folk dance is belonged to the state of Bihar in India. The dance is performed with traditional attire and mask. Actually mask is an important feature of this dance Chhau, here the meaning of Chhau is mask.

During dance performance the stage are decorated and lit by large number of lanterns, torches, and flickering oil lamps, gives an excellent view.

The tunes and songs are based on the Hindustani classical music. The major musical instruments used during folk dance are the Dhol, Nagara, and Sehnais. The duration of the dance performance is not more than 7-10 minutes (due to the wearing of heavy dance performer can’t dance for long). The folk dance mainly male oriented thus perform by men or boys. Sagara Nritya (ocean dance), Sarpa Nritya (serpent dance), Mayura Nritya (peacock dance), etc., are different forms of folk dance Chhau.

Brita Dance (West Bengal):
This folk dance form is one of the most important traditional dances of Bengal. This dance is performed by the barren women of Bengal who worship in gratitude after their wish is fulfilled.

Dalkhai (Orissa):
This folk dance is performed by women of the tribes from the Sambalpur district of Orissa. This folk dance is basically performed during the time of festivals. Men don’t participate in dance but play musical instruments and drummers often join the dance.

Goti Puas (Orissa):
This folk dance form is performed by the boys in the girl’s attire. The Raja of Khurda, Ramachandradeva encouraged the dance form during 16th century. A goti pua presentation is ably supported by a set of three musicians, who play the pakhawaj, the gini or cymbals and the harmonium. The boys do the singing themselves, though at times the group has an additional singer. Today, the surviving goti pua dals belong to villages and some prominent groups are from Dimirisena and Raghurajapur near Puri, and Darara, near Bhubaneswar districts.