Drum Folk Dances

Drums undoubtedly lead the percussion instruments. In India there are more than 200 different kinds of drums. Perhaps no country can surpass India in the range and variety of drums. Indian music, be it classical, folk, or tribal, requires drum accompaniment. Tabla, Pakhawaj, Mridangam etc, are classical drums. Dhol, or its smaller Variety Dholak are typical folk drums, Mandar is a typical tribal drum. The concept of Taal, i.e. time-cycle, in Indian music is unique. The Western musical time moves like a sine wave, but Taal, the Indian musical time, moves in cycles. In a Taal there are fixed number of beats and the accents on different beats are patterned differently. For instance, the Taal called Dhamar, Deepchandi, Jhumra, and Aaadtaali, all have fourteen beats in a cycle. But the distribution of accents are different, for which each of the said Taals give different aesthetic appeal. Indian dances too, be it classical, folk, or tribal, require drum accompaniment. There are, of course, a few folk and tribal dances which are not accompanied with drums but other percussion instruments. Overwhelming majority of Indian dances, however, are accompanied with drum music. Generally the drummer provides the percussion accompaniment with dances. There are, however, quite a few dances in which the dancer himself plays the drum while dancing. Such dances come under the category of drum dance.

Pung Cholam

One of the finest example of drum dance is the fascinating Pung Cholam of Manipur. It is a highly sophisticated dance with all the elements of a so called classical dance. Pung is a drum with two faces. One face, usually played with the tight hand, is much smaller than the other. The drum is slung from the neck of the drummer for playing with both the hands. Pung Cholam is performed either solo or in a group. At times, about a hundred drummers perform the dance all wearing spotless white dhoti and white turban. It is then a treat for the eyes, ears, and mind. The aesthetic appeal is so over-powering that it becomes an experience for the life time. While playing intricate rhythmic passages on the drums, the drummers not only dance gracefully and vigorously, but also swings the drum in incredible ways, all the while playing. There ate also acrobatic elements in the dance.
Actually, cholam is a generic name of percussion dances prevalent in Manipur: Cholam performed by men are vigorous having acrobatic elements. Those performed by women are delicate and lyrical. The style of dance changes as the percussion instrument changes. Men perform two other drum dances with Dhol and Daph, a frame drum. Men also perform Kartaal Cholam. Kartaal is a pair of large cymbals. The cholams performed by women are not with drums, but with idiophones like clappers and smaller cymbals. Among all the cholams, the Pung Cholam is the best.

Ghumra

The Ghumra is another interesting drum dance prevalent in Orissa in the districts of Sambalpur, Balangir and Kalahandi. The dance is named after the pitcher-like drum. Its body is made from terracotta. The neck of the drum is like a hollow cylinder. On its mouth is tautly tied the skin of Godbi, a lizard-like reptile. The drum is slung from the neck of the dancer and tied at the back so that its face is near the chest. The dancers play on the face with both their hands. The dance is performed only by men. The dancers wear colored dhoti tightly and colored jackets. They wear turbans clipped with peacock feathers. A belt with jinglebells called ghaagudi is fastened to each dancer's waist and ghungroo on both the ankles. One dancer, without the Ghumra drum holds two bunches of long peacock feathers in both of his hands. He dances with the group making funny movements and sounds that add a humorous element to the performance. In the beginning, the dancers stand in two rows and play on their Ghumra drums. Then they dance playing on their drums. After that, they stand in rows and the accompanying vocalist sings a couplet from the repertory of songs specified for the dance. At times, he may sing couplets composed or improvised by him. While the vocalist is singing, the dancers remain standing and play softly on their drums. As soon as the couplet is complete, the dancers play on their drums loudly and dance vigorously. Although the dance is performed on some festive occasions, customarily it is danced on the day of Gamha Poornima that falls on the full moon day of the lunar month of Shravan (July/August).

Dollu Kunita

The Dollu Kunita is the drum dance of Karnataka. It is also danced by only men and is quite a vigorous dance having elements of acrobatics. This dance is performed by the Kuraba (shepherd) community living in the districts of Chitradurga, Shimoga and Bellary, A legend is associated with the dance. The legend in short is as follows : Shiva, the Lord of Kailas mountain, pleased with the tapasya of a demon devotee, granted him the wish of having the Lord inside his body. When Lord Shiva entered into the body of the demon, the Kailas becomes gloomy and unworthy of living. Lord Vishnu was approached to find a solution for the problem. With divine powers Vishnu severed the body of the demon and brought out Lord Shiva who did not like it at all. To pacify Lord Shiva, Lord Vishnu made a drum out of the torso of the demon. That drum is Dollu. Lord Vishnu took the drum and started dancing while playing it. That was the first Dollu Kunita that pacified Lord Shiva. From that day to please Lord Shiva the dance is performed by the Kuraba community.

In many parts of the country drums with two faces, which are slung from the neck for playing are called either Dhol or Dholak. Generally Dhol is barrel shaped. Dollu is cylindrical and shorter in length. The body is made of Pine wood. While the left face of the drum is of goat skin, the right is of sheep skin. The dancers play the drums loudly and dance vigorously. While dancing the drummers-cum-dancers make a pyramidal formation of three or four tiers by getting up on the shoulders of other dancers. The drumming of the dancers is complemented by indigenous trumpets, flute and cymbals.

Warli Dhol

Dhol dances are prevalent in Maharastra and in Kumaon-Garhwal region of Uttar Pradesh. In Maharashtra the Warli tribal community living especially in Thane district perform Dholacha Nach which is similar to Dollu Kunita. The Warli dancers also form a human pyramid during their performance.

Bhil Dhol

The Dhol dance prevalent in the Kumaon-Garhwal region of Uttar Pradesh is performed by the Bhil tribal community. Like all drum dances this is also performed by men only. Two kinds of dancers participate in the dance. Almost half of the group are drummer-cum-dancers. The other half of the group hold naked swords in their mouth while dancing. They do not sling the drum from their necks. Although there are acrobatic elements in the dance, human pyramid is not formed in this dance.

Dappu

There are quite a few drum dances in which the dancers play frame drums while dancing. The most elaborate is the Dappu dance of Andhra Pradesh. Some communities belonging to the Backward Class in Adilabad district perform the dance. Dappu is a round frame drum. The dancers play the drum while dancing. There are five different varieties of Dappu dance depending upon the pattern of stepping. When the dancers tap the ground with their feet alternately, the dance is called Majili Dappu and it is customarily danced at the time of Dussehra (September/October). In the Ata Dappu variety, the dancers take two consecutive steps on the accented beat of the rhythm and it is performed at the time of a marriage ceremony. The Holi Dappu is performed at the time of the Holi festival (February/March). In this variety the dancers take three consecutive steps on the accented beat of the rhythm. In Pochamma Dappu the dancers take four consecutive steps and it is performed to invoke the goddess Pochamma. In the Rolatam Dappu, performed on important festive occasions, the dancers take five consecutive steps.

Tappeta Gullu

Another frame drum dance called Tappeta Gullu is prevalent in Andhra Pradesh, especially in the districts of Srikakulam and East Godavari. Tappeta is a small frame drum which is tied to the chest of each dancer. The dancers wear short pants and tie anklebells on both their ankles. While dancing they play the frame drum. The sound of the drum and anklebells blend well with the songs that accompany the dance. The songs usually are inspired by Krishna legend. The vocalist sings a couplet while the dancers play on the drum softly. The last word of the couplet is repeated by all the dancers loudly in chorus and then play the drum also loudly and dance vigorously. The dance has passages containing acrobatic elements.

Tappettai

In Tamil Nadu the frame drum is called Tappettai. It is larger in size and is played both by hand and stick. Although the Tappettai dance is performed all over the state, it is mote popular in the districts of Salem, Madurai, Thanjavur, and Coimbatore. Generally the dance is performed at the time of temple festivals.

Tappumelakkali

The frame drum dance of Kerala, called Tappumelakkali is performed by communities, such as, Vettuvar, Ezhava, Parayan, and Cherumakkal. In this dance two kinds of drums are played : Tappu, the flame drum , and Chenda, a cylindrical drum with two faces but played on one face with lean sticks by slinging it vertically from the neck. Generally, the number of Tappus is three times that of the Chendas. Usually, the group consists of four Chendas and twelve Tappus. The frame drum is played with a short but thick stick.

Dhemali

The Dhemali of Assam is not really a drum dance, but a preliminary (poorvaranga) of the traditional theatre known as Ankianat or Bhawana. Before the play begins the Dhemali is performed. There are various kinds of Dhemali. The Chabini Dhemali is a kind of drum dance, somewhat like Pung Cholam of Manipur, but having much subdued dancing. The drum played is called Khol and almost similar to the Pung of Manipur. When a large number of drummer-dancers, with all white dress, perform a Dhemali, especially in a moonlit night, it presents a sight that is as impressive as aesthetically satisfying.