Folk dance competitions illustrates cultures throughout India

Folk dance competitions illustrates cultures throughout India

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangalore, Jan 13, 2012: The TMA Pai Convention Centre was full of dance enthusiasts watching colorfully dressed young people dancing to the tune of folk songs. Each presentation illustrated the culture, lifestyle, and traditions of the participants’ hometown. 

The Chhow Dance, a folk dance of West Bengal, held the audience spellbound. Depicting the killing of Mahishasura by Goddess Durga, it is performed during Durga Pooja in West Bengal. 

 

 

 

The Uttarkhand team performed the Ran Bhoot Nritya in commemoration of the brave warriors who died fighting against invaders in Uttarkhand. The Ran Bhoot Nritya illustrates the religious beliefs of the native people, and the performance itself is believed to calm the souls of dead soldiers, whom the villagers feared.

The Mizoram team also performed a war dance, called the Solakya, illustrating the culture of the tribes in their region. The Bihari team then performed the Kajari dance in honor of the rainy reason and the agricultural prosperity it brings. 

Teams from Himachal Pradesh, Andhra Prades, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Sikkim, and Meghalaya will also perform before the audience during the following days. 

One of the highlights of the day was the Kerala team dancing to the music of Sikkim and the Sikkim team dancing to the tunes of the Kerala chende, illustrating the NYF’s theme of “celebrating diversity in unity.”