Tribal Muisc & Dance Of Rajasthan

Music and dances are such an essential part of tribal life that professional musicians and dancers are-redundant.

The Garasia tribals inhabit the Abu Road and Pindware Tehsils of Sirohi district and the neighbouring territories of Kotra, Gogunda and Kherwara Tehsils of Udaipur district; they have a folklore enriched with folktales, proverbs, riddles and folk music. Walar is an important dance of the Garasias which is a prototype of the Ghoomar dance. Their dances are generally accompanied by the beats of the mandal, chang and a variety of other musical instruments which provide as lively rhythm to their dance sequences.

The most famous Bhil dance is the Gawari, a dance drama. Troupes of these dancers go from village to village for a month, during which the nine functionaries follow a strict regimen. The main characters are Rai Buriya Shiva, his two Rais, and Katkuria, the comic handyman. Between the enactment of various episodes, the entire troupe dances around a central spot consecrated to a deity. The dance is accompanied by a Madal and a thali.

The Ghoomar is the characteristic dance of the Bhils. Men and women sing alternately and move clockwise & anticlockwise giving free and intended play to the ample folds of the ghagra. The music of the primitive group of sahariyas (sourias) of Shahbad, Kota, and Shows Central Indian links, with their songs speaking of Ram and Sita. The fairs of the Meenas had a lot of free dancing which is unfortunately on the wane.

Vibrant, vigorous, graceful, sinuous, plaintive and martial, the dance and music of Rajasthan evoke the desert in all its moods. It is the most lilting tribute to the spectacular beauty, the undulating sinuousness and the brutal harshness of the landscape, and to the hardiness and heroism of the people who live in this Land of the Kings.