Haryana Folk Dance
HARYANA FOLK DANCES
Traditional Folk Dance of Haryana
1. Ras Leela – Folk Dance of Haryana
This dance is common among the people living within the Braja area of the Faridabad district. Lord Vishnu has been manifesting in many incarnations. He’s the supreme embodiment. He’s Lord Krishna. The Gopi’s of Braj Bhoomi, the straightforward milkmaid are his true devotees. Krishna chooses them because the finest examples of human beings. Radha, the foremost beautiful of the Gopi’s, pleased with her beauty and power over men was the last one to surrender to the utter bliss of the lord.
Ras Leela becomes a dance of spiritual ecstasy with God pervading the planet as his own self and as the selves of the dancing gopis. The gopis form a revolve around Krishna. During this circular dance the bracelets, anklets and therefore the bells of the gopis sound together in perfect harmony. Gopis moving in Rhythm, sway their bodies gracefully.
2. Phag Dance/Phalgun/Fhag Dance
This is often a seasonal dance, through which agricultural people express their joy and vigor. During the month of February -March, they have a little leisure between sowing and harvesting. The crops are growing well, the spring is on and therefore the rural folk expresses themselves through song and dance.
During this dance men and women group together. The rhythm takes them on to emotional expression through their hands, eyes, and feet. The dance involves a spread of the movement, requiring sound coordination. They sing within the ancient Daamal style, a mixture of dance and song, the origin of which dates to the hoary past, it’s a mixed dance but sometimes performed by men only. The songs are different in each case.
3. Dhamal Dance – Folk Dance of Haryana
Dhamal dance is as old as the Mahabharata. It’s popular among the Ahirs of Gurgaon district. It’s also in vogue in Mahendargarh and Jhajjar. The dance is rooted within the deeper emotions of the people, performed on moonlit nights of Phalgun. When the winter veil of fog and mist lifted from the face of the world and a whisper of spring is in the air indeed.
The dancers assemble in an open space and form themselves into a circle. They begin with a song to the sound of Dhamal beats. The songs sung during the dance relate to the burden of affection and labor. They depict the villager’s hopes, aspirations, their love -longings and joys and sorrows. Around fifteen and twenty dancers participate within the dance.
4. Loor – Folk Dance of Haryana
Loor may be a well-known dance of Haryana. It’s performed around the Holi festival and is very popular in the Bangar and Bagar parts of the region. Within the Dadri area, the term Loor is used for a girl. The participants during this dance are all girls.
The dancers substitute two rows facing each other, within the form of a semi-circle. One party starts a song. The burden of the song is “Your bahu has born to a daughter and a son is born on this site, why not marry the two”. The dance starts with this song.
For quite a while they discuss this problem. Finally, the proposal was accepted. the subsequent topic is about the presents given by the parents of the son to the girl at the time of marriage.
5. Gugga Dance – Folk Dance of Haryana
Gugga Pir has several names: -Guru Gugga, Zahir Pir and Bagarwalla. Gugga worshipped practically everywhere in Haryana and devotees scattered over the neighboring states of Rajasthan, Punjab, and Himachal. The Pir was born on Bhadon Naumi at Dadreva village in Bikaner (Rajasthan).
The day is widely known as Gugga Naumi all over northern India. Gugga claimed to be a Chauhan Rajput. Colonel Tod is of the view that his name was Bach raj. Consistent with a folk legend he was married to Kumari Sirial, daughter of Raja Sanjha of Kamrup he’s equally worshipped by both Hindus and Muslims. A few weeks or two Before Gugga Naumi, his devotees remove a procession, led by a bhagat, carrying Gugga Khichari. It’s a strong and long bamboo stick decorated with fans, garlands, flowers, and colored pieces of cloth. Five Bhagats are the most dancers. They carry their own musical instruments in their hands, consisting of Dholak, Manjiras, Deru (a small side drum), Chimta and Cymbals.
The bhagats sing a song in praise of Gugga. The dance is extremely simple. The dancer’s feet move consistently with the rhythm of their songs. Because the tempo increases, they cry and beat their chests with iron chains.
These parties have seen coming in Haryana villagers during the month of Bhadon. It’s an exclusively male dance and falls in the category of ritualistic dances. It creates an environment charged with spiritual fervor among the devotees of Gugga.
6. Jhumar Dance – Folk Dance of Haryana
This dance takes the name from Jumar, an ornament commonly worn on the forehead by young married girls. Women exclusively perform it. They form a circle and move gracefully, amid the beats of dholak and Thali. There are many variations each with its own distinctive rhythm.
The dancers lose themselves in gay abandon, wearing colorful costumes. The performance lasts several hours. a woman comes forwards and breaks into song. When the girl sings the song, another girl then progresses, swaying rhythmically with perfect poise. The second line of the song is shared by both.
The tempo increases because the dance proceeds. The other girl doesn’t leave their places but keep on singing the song and clapping their hands against each other. There’s a short pause before a new line of the song starts. This dance resembles the well-known Punjabi Gidda and is thus named Haryanvi Gidda. It’s common in all parts of the state.
7. Holi Dance – Folk Dance of Haryana
This exuberant dance relates to the seasonal festival of spring. When the agricultural community rejoices and relaxes after the completion of their agricultural operations. It’s performed in various formations to the accompaniment of drums and pipes. Both men and ladies participate in this dance.
Percussion instruments like dhol, jhajh, chimta, khartal and thalis and anklets on the feet of the dancers produce the rhythm. Abir, gulal and colored water sprinkled on each other by the dancers.
Folk Musical Instruments of Haryana:
1. Sarangi
This is often also a string instrument played with a bow, which is formed of long strands or strands of animal hair, fixed on a bow-shaped stick. This instrument takes a prominent place as an accompaniment to most singers. It’s about 60 centimeters long, made by hollowing out one block of wood.
For tuning, four pegs are fixed in it to line the strings according to the pitches of twelve semi-tones. Some sarangis have thirty-five to forty sympathetic strings running under the four main strings.
It’s for long been a folk instrument used by the common people, particularly the bards for her simple music. Within the seventeenth century, the sarangi was considered a suitableaccompaniment to the new style of classical music. In Haryana, this instrument is seen with some wandering bards as an accompaniment to singing their folk songs. It’s also used during a swaang performance (rural theatre).
2. Harmonium
An instrument with keys, metal reeds and bellows. It’s played by using the bellows to force air through the reeds, which are opened by putting fingers over the keys.
3. DhaddDhadd also spelled as Dhad or Dhadh is an hourglass-shaped traditional instrument native to Haryana that is mainly used by the Dhadi singers. It’s also used by other folk singers of the region.
4. Dholak
This dance is performed in villages bordering Haryana. It’s a ceremonial dance of women in connection with the puja ceremony of Ishwar and Gangor (Lord Shiva and Parvati) dressed in colorful costumes and Jewelry, with brass jars on their heads, the lady moves in a circle, the movements and therefore the pattern of the dance changing according to the music.
The grins of the dancers are an important element in the performance. It’s a devotional dance to invoke the blessings of the gods for a good harvest and is usually performed in the months of palghun and Chait.
Sometimes the dance takes the shape of a Kirtan, related to the love of Lord Shiva and Parvati. The women enter the circle one by one, dancing and singing devotional songs. Thedance continues for hours.
5. Manjeera
This is often a pair of metallic cymbals used for producing rhythm. It produces a pleasing sound and uses mostly as an accompaniment to devotional music and more frequently during dance performances. It’s also used by Jogi’s of ‘Nath Parampara’ during their prayers.
6. Khartal
These are wooden cymbals having two pieces of hardwood, made flat on one side and round on the opposite. Fixed within the fingers of one hand, the flat surfaces struck with one another to produce, percussive. Sometimes, small bells or metallic rings are also fixed at the back of each khartal to produce a tinkling effect.
7. Damaru
This is often a very small drum, shaped like an hourglass. It’s an attribute of Lord Shiva who said to have played it during his Tandava Nritya (Cosmic Dance). It’s used as an accompaniment for devotional and ritualistic folk music, especially in Gugga dance. It’s also associated with magic shows by jugglers.
8. Duggi
The duggi, Dugi or dukkar, is an Indian drum, with a kettle drum shape, played with fingers and therefore the palm of the hand. It’s used in Baul music of the Haryana region. It’s also employed in the folk music of Uttar Pradesh (duggi) and Punjab (dukkar).
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