Folk Dances of Rajasthan

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Rajasthan is famous for its vast variety of folk dances, which include ‘Panihari’, ‘Gher’ (‘Gair’), ‘Tera Tali’, ‘Chari’, ‘Walar’, ‘Jhumar’ (‘Ghumar’), ‘Gangore’, ‘Gavri’, ‘Ginad’, ‘Khulan Leela’, and ‘Khayaland Suisini’. Certain dances are specific to certain tribes. For instance, the ‘Bhils’ have a variety of dances like ‘Ghumar’, ‘Raika’ and ‘Jhoria’; the Mina tribes have the ‘Gher’ dance; the Garasias have the ‘Valar’ dance while the Kamars performs the ‘Tera Tali’.

 Chakri Dance:

Chakri dance is performed by the Kanjar girls, generally during weddings. The dancers, who whirl round and round in circles in flowering skirts, appear like spinning tops.

Chari Dance:

Chari Dance is a popular dance form in the Kishangarh region and involves dancing with a pot (‘Chari’) on one’s head.

Drum Dance​:

Drum Dance is a typical dance of Jalore in which five men carrying huge drums around their necks accompany a dancer who holds a naked sword in his mouth and gives a performance. 


Fire Dance ​:

Fire Dance is a desert dance performed by the ‘Jasnathis’ of Bikaner in which men and boys jump over fire to the accompaniment of drum beats. 


Gair​:

Originally a dance of Southern Rajasthan, Gair is a Holi dance performed only by men. This dance is referred as ‘Dhandia Gair’ in Jodhpur and ‘Greendad’ in Shekhawati.


Gair Ghumar:

Gair Ghumar is typical of the Bhil tribes and is performed during the Holi festival together by men and women, dressed in traditional costumes.

Ghumar:

Ghumar is a community dance of Bhil women, performed on auspicious occasions.

 

Kachi Ghodi:

Kachi Ghodi is a dance performed by men on dummy horses.

Tera Taali:

‘Tera Taali’ or ‘Terathal’ is performed by the ‘Kamar’ community of Pokhran, especially during the ‘Ramdevra’ Festival. It is a rather unusual performance where the men play a four-stringed instrument called ‘chau-tara’, while the women strike the cymbals.

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