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Jagar

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In North India, Kumaon and Garhwal region has a variety of trance dances; the leading one is called Jagar. It is inspired by a local legend. The legend runs as follows : Once upon a time, there was a very beautiful Brahmin girl by the name Bhana Joshi. The prince of the kingdom fell in love with her. Both loved each other so deeply that ignoring the caste barrier the prince wanted to marry her. When none of them could be dissuaded to part with, they were killed.

This tragic love story has inspired the Jagar trance dance. It is danced both by men and women, A vocalist sings the ballad when the dancers depict the story by gestures. The dance culminates in invoking the spirits of Bhana and her love-prince. The dancers then go into a trance. Finally, a priest performs some rituals to send the spirits back to their heavenly abode to rest in peace.

Bhoota

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Bhoota Dance Karnataka
Bhoota Dance 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.

Tushimig

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The society of Kinnauri tribe of Himachal Pradesh is both polyandrous and polygamous. Although the main occupation of the community is rearing of sheep and goats for the purpose of gathering wool and selling them, quite a few are also agriculturists. One of the festivals that the Kinnauris organize is called Tushimig. Mainly the unmarried girls become more enthusiastic during the month long festival. On the day the festival begins, the unmarried girls choose a spacious house which is meticulously cleaned and decorated. They then prepare a sumptuous meal. After that they go and invite the boys. Most of these young men are boyfriends of the girls. All the boys and girls feast together. After the meal they dance with gay abandon. The musical accompaniment is provided by Dhol, the drum, Bugial, a kind of wind instrument, and Damentu, the horn.

Around the middle of the twentieth century the West felt the necessity of imparting sex education to the youth and adolescent. But almost all the tribal communities have been giving sex education in their own way for thousands of years. They have a system of having separate dormitories for unmarried girls and boys. Generally, these dormitories are located at the end of a village. In the evening, all the girls who have attained puberty go to the dormitory after taking their dinner. The boys go to another dormitory facing that of the girls and separated by about hundred yards. One of the most experienced women of the village remain in-charge of the girls’ dormitory, and a very senior villager, for the boys’ dormitory. The boys and girls do meet and date, but there are definite conventions which are strictly observed. While tribes like Santhal and Oraon have separate dormitories for boys and girls, the Muria Gond have mixed dormitory. This institution of dormitory provides all kinds of informal education including that of sex. The boys and girls are inculcated with the values and religion of the community in these dormitories. Invariably, the boys and girls after coming to the dormitories dance together for hours.

Bhagoria

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Bhagoria Dance MadhyaPradesh
Bhagoria Dance MadhyaPradesh

Bhagoria is another festival where young boys and girls choose their partners for life. The Bhils living in Jhabua, Alirajpur and Dhar range of Madhya Pradesh, have four main ethnic groups : Bhil, Bhilala, Patalia and Ranth. Bhagoria dance is performed by all these groups. Before Holi in the lunar month of Phalgun, corresponding to February/March, Bhagoria fair and Haats (occasional market) are organized. Most probably it originated as a fertility ritual and later festivity became more important than the ritual. On the day the fair begins, the dancers gather round a pole fixed vertically on the ground. The headman of the village worships Mandar, a drum with two faces. He then strikes the drum. Immediately the drummers start playing. Both men and women participate in the dance. The male dancers hold bows. The dance is accompanied with the percussion music of one or more Mandars only.

The Chhapeli dance prevalent in the Kumaon region of Uttar Pradesh is a social dance which is playful as well as amorous. Several duet dances are performed by couples who may be husband and wife or lovers. Each of the female dancers holds a mirror and a handkerchief. The musicians stand in a semicircle and the pairs of dancers dance before them. The vocalists sing in a chorus and the dancers dance to their singing. The percussion instruments that accompany the singing are: Hurka, an hourglass shaped drum, and Manjira, the cymbals.

Hudo

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Hudo is another dance performed at the Tarnetar fair where girls choose their husbands. Tarnetar is a small village in the Sourashtra region of Gujrat. Tarnetar is a colloquial derivative of Trinetreshwar (god with three eyes), an aspect of Lord Shiva, who is enshrined in the temple at the village. Every year on Rishi Panchami that falls on the fifth lunar day (tithi) of the dark fortnight of the lunar month of Ashwina, corresponding to August/ September, the three day Tarnetar fair begins. A legend is associated with the fair which is as follows : Arjuna, the hero of Mahabharata, was the winner in the archery competition held at this place. It was declared that the archer who can pierce the eye of a fish hanging from a very tall pole without looking at the fish but looking at its reflection in the pool of water around the pole, will be chosen by Draupadi as her husband. Only Arjuna could perform this near impossible feat of archery for which Draupadi chose him as her husband. This event is commemorated every year by holding the fair where girls choose their respective husbands. The young men who wish to be chosen by the girls, come with colorful and beautifully embroidered umbrellas. They also wear an equally colorful embroidered jacket . After choosing the husbands the boys and girls perform Hudo. The girls form a Line and the boys form their line. The two lines of dancers face each other and dance to the music provided by drums, flutes, and other folk musical instruments. The tempo is usually faster and while dancing the girls clap on the palms of the boys with both their palms. The marriage is formalized later.