Lead the Competition provides a set of multiple choice questions on music, dance and persons associated with various dance forms and musical instruments. The classical and most famous dance of Odissi owes its origin to the Gotipua dance. Purulia Chhau uses the mask in dance, but Odisha does not, thereby combining facial expression with body movement and gesture. Seraikella Chhau Dance and Martial Art. List of Folk dances, important for general awareness section of bank exams. Sometimes small Santhal couple masks are used. Main Character of the dance carries ektara and/or kartal (manjira) as the musical instruments. This form is known to be a popular folk dance in Ganjam district. Your email address will not be published. The Rauta, male character is the main singer cum commentator who delivers the main part of mythology while the Rautani, female character plays the role of Rauta’s wife as his co-singer and dancer. It is also performed for recreational purpose. This form is also known as Tiger dance. These dances are generally performed on the occasion of harvest season, festivals, to pray for rains and for recreation. Chhau is an ancient form of dance which is believed to have been originated in the Mayurbhanj district of Odisha. This dance is performed by women. Teejan Bai is the renowned exponent of this Folk dance. While blowing the conch, the artists display harmony between the inflection of the conch. To portray Gods and Goddesses like Devi Durga, Lakshmi and Kartik the masks are coloured dark yellow or bright orange. 8–10 layers of soft paper, immersed in diluted glue, are pasted one after another on the mould before the mud mould is dusted with fine ash powder. This dance still remains to be hidden in the village level of South-western Odisha and in some other places. Here the male dancers who perform paint their bare body with yellow and black stripes just like that of a tiger’s skin and attach a tail at their back to look like a tiger. List of Geographical Indications in India, "The Official Website of Purulia District", "Bengal handicrafts to get new fillip with GI tags", Cities, towns and locations in Purulia district, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chhau_mask&oldid=980939486, All Wikipedia articles written in Indian English, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Purulia, Mayurbhanj and Sareikela are considered as the hub of Chhau dance. Its other name is Paika Nritya the literal meaning of which is dance of war. A special layer of mud and cloth is applied and the mask is then sun-dried. It is rampant among the cowherd communities primarily in Ganjam district of Odisha. Chhau is one of the most important folk dances of India which is popular in tribal areas of eastern states namely Jharkhand, Odisha, adjacent regions of northeast Chhattisgarh and West Bengal. It is a theatrical type of dance which is blended with song. This is a popular folk dance form of Rajasthan. After this, the mould is polished and a second round of sun drying is done before separating the layers of cloth and paper from the mould. Still Kalahandi region has a foremost decree in popularizing & maintaining the distinctiveness of Ghumura dance. Usually an image or idol of Godess Durga is placed in the center and the women encircle it while performing this dance. The dance is done in two groups where one group is the attacking one while the other is the defensive one. It is also popular in Marathi dominating areas of South Madhya Pradesh and Northern parts of Karnataka. Group of Kashmiri Women performing Rauf Dance. It got founded during the mock fights of Odia paikas (warriors) who fought rhythmically to the accompaniment of indigenous musical instruments. A tilak is generally used on the forehead of Krishna and Rama. The facial features are made of clay. [1] The Chhau mask of Purulia is registered on the List of Geographical Indications. The dance is made lively with off the cuff dialogues and hilarious episodes. India has many dances, coming from every state in the country. We can only hope that during the upcoming times these dance forms are promoted in the best way possible so that people get to know its real beauty.