REPUBLIC
DAY FOLK DANCE FESTIVAL – 2003
Come January
and the Department of Culture and Zonal Cultural Centres gear
up to organize the Republic Day Folk Dance Festival every year
since 1993. This year, the festival is being held between January
23rd and 29th, 2003 at different venues in Delhi. The Republic
Day Folk Dance Festival – 2003 celebrates the spirit of vigour
and resurgence of the republic and its rich cultural heritage
through folk dance forms from various regions of the country.
The Festival
was inaugurated on January 23, 2003 at the Talkatora Indoor Stadium,
New Delhi. Every day between 24th and 29th January, 2003, performances
are being held at the Talkatora Indoor Stadium at 6 p.m. They
are also being held at 12 other venues in Delhi besides the Talkatora
Indoor Stadium. These include seven select schools where folk
dance performances are being organized exclusively for school
children.
Folk Dances
Badhai (Madhya
Pradesh), Dhali (West Bengal), Kalbelia (Rajasthan) and Kaavadi
Chindu (Tamil Nadu) are a few of these folk dances that make
us feel proud of our rich cultural heritage.
Badhai is
a typical folk dance of Bundelkhand. The majority of the people
of Bundelkhand believe in goddess Sheetala at the time of calamities
such as flood, sickness and so on. On occasions like marriage
or the birth of son, they beseech the goddess for her help and
blessings and if their prayer is granted or wish fulfilled, both
men and women go to goddess Sheetala and in tune with the rhythm
of the folk musical instrument they perform various steps. This
particular rhythm is also called "Badhai" and
when it is played, men as well as animals are thrilled and they
all start dancing. Even today one can come across in many villages,
the mare (female horse) used for Badhai dance.
Dhali is
another heroic folk dance of West Bengal. It originated and developed
during the reign of Raja Pratapaditya. After winning the battle,
the fatigued and exhausted soldiers started dancing with swords
and shields in order to inspire themselves for the next war. Today
this dance form has become modified with the participation of
both men and women.
Kalbelia is
a nomadic group from Rajasthan whose primary occupation was rearing
snakes - extracting and trading in snake venom. ‘Been’
and ‘Daf’ are the traditional instruments of these people
belonging to the ‘Nath’ sect. During social and ceremonial
occasions folk songs are sung and the women dance inspired by
the rhythmic beat of the ‘daf’ and the plaintive notes
of the ‘been’ which highlights the unparalleled virtuosity
of the dancers often reminiscent of the graceful and supple movements
of the snake.
Kaavadi Chindu
is a folk dance of Tamil Nadu. The devotees of Tamil God "Muruga"
carry "Kaavadi" on their shoulder during temple
festivals and they dance according to the rhythm of songs sung
on God. The Kaavadi is made of wood and peacock feathers are tied
at both ends. The Kaavadis are usually decorated with colourful
clothes and the other instruments used are Thavil, Nadaswaram
and Thappu.
This year 37 groups
from seven cultural zones of the country are participating to
mark the spirit of national integration i.e., ‘unity in diversity’.
