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Browse Indian folk dances state by state with the occasion, performers, instruments and costume behind each one.
This explorer covers 51 Indian folk dances state by state, recording for each one the festival or occasion it belongs to, who performs it, the instruments that carry the rhythm, the costume and what the dance is actually about. It separates social folk dances such as Bhangra and Garba from ritual forms such as Theyyam and Padayani, martial forms such as Chhau and Thang Ta, and folk theatre such as Yakshagana and Raslila, because those are performed under very different conditions. Filters cover state, region, form and performers, and three entries carry their UNESCO intangible heritage inscription year.
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Every entry names the festival or life event the dance belongs to, which is what most lists omit.
Ritual, martial, folk-theatre and social dances are marked separately rather than lumped together.
Each dance lists the drums and wind instruments that drive it and what dancers actually wear.
Three dance traditions in this list are inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity: Kalbelia of Rajasthan and Chhau of Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal, both in 2010, and Sankirtana, the ritual singing, drumming and dancing of Manipur, in 2013.
Classical forms such as Bharatanatyam, Kathak and Odissi follow a codified grammar traced to the Natya Shastra, are taught through formal training and are usually performed solo on a stage. Folk dances are community practices tied to a harvest, a festival or a wedding, are learnt by taking part, and are usually danced in groups.
Garba and Dandiya Raas, both from Gujarat, are danced through the nine nights of Navratri. Garba circles a lamp placed inside a perforated earthen pot, the garbo, while Dandiya Raas is danced with a pair of sticks whose strikes represent the fight between Durga and the demon Mahishasura.
It is a ritual first. In the shrines of north Kerala the performer, after long preparation and elaborate costume, is regarded as the deity for the duration of the performance and gives blessings in that role. Filming or attending should follow the shrine's own rules, which vary between kavus.