Folk Dances from Karnataka

The Bhoota dance of Karnataka is one of the examples of trance dances. Bhoota means a spirit. In South Kanara, especially the Tula community, perform this dance. They believe that there are particular spirits who if invoked to enter into the body of the dancer, many evils and calamities that may befall on the community will be averted. Almost every village in the South Kanara district has a Bhoota Sana. Derived from the Sanskrit word sthaana, Sana means a place. Surrounded by thick bushes and trees, stands a small structure with tiled roof and without any windows. In front of the structure there are a few T-shaped poles. Inside there are a few brass images suggesting human and animal figures. This is the Bhoota Sana, the abode of the spirits. There are also swords and flywhisks. The images are worshipped with only kapala flowers.

The dance is performed on moonlit nights. The Bhoota dancer wears a highly stylized make-up and costume. There are quite a few variant forms of the Bhoota dance. In some variant styles the dancer, instead of stylized facial make-up, wears a wooden mask. The flowing skirt of the Bboota dancer is made of strips of palm leaf. The torso is covered with broad necklaces of nuts and beads. The dancer wears a conical headgear decorated with tinsel and tiny mirrors that dazzle when light falls on them. The face is given a mask like make up with lines that give the face a kind of weird look. The accompanying music is very loud and is provided by drums, pipes and brass clappers. The music is punctuated with prose passages. When the Bhoota dancer gets possessed by the invoked spirit, he tells many things of past, present and future. According to his advice even some village disputes are settled. The deified dancer promises prosperity for the villages and finally pronounces that the tradition will be continued for ever.

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.

Goph is an exotic confluence of colorful cultural strands. The weaving of the plait-Goph- represents the quite but conscious assimilation of the impressions left behind by several dynasties, which ruled over Goa during the past centuries. The dance is annually presented by the peasant community in Canacona Anguem and Quepem taluka in the Shigmo festival which is the most popular folk festival of Goa.

The Pata-da Kunita of Karnataka is traditionally performed at the time when a village deity is taken out on ceremonial occasions. The dance having deep religious association is believed to have originated from Vaishnavite rites. Pata-da Kunita literally means the dance of the Patas which are 10 to 15 feet long bamboo poles decorated with colorful silken ribbons and with a small umbrella made of either silver or brass fixed on top end of each pillar. The dancers wearing red dhotis, folded scarves slung crosswise from left shoulder to right side waist, and garlands, each holds a Pata, the lower end of which is put inside a bag of cotton fabric slung from the shoulder. While dancing, the dancers form various choreographic patterns. Some of the dance movements have elements of acrobatics. The percussion music is provided by two kinds of native drums, namely, Tamte and Nagarika.

In Karnatak the ceremonial dances with ritualistic overtones are called by the generic name of Kunita. Like Pat-da Kumita, another such dance is Suggi Kunita. It is performed by the farming Halaki Vokkaligas of the North Kanara. The Suggi procession is taken out on the occasion of Kamana Hunnime amdist elaborate arrangements. The headgear of the dancers, called Turayi, looks like birds perched on crop and is particularly eye catching. Each dancer holds a small stick and a bouquet of peacock feathers in his right hand. The singing and dancing suggi procession is greeted in every house with aarti. When the procession returns, Karma is burnt, followed by festivities. The Suggi Kunita is believed to eradicate diseases in the village, bring rains and fulfill the wishes of the people.