Barada Nati

Understand

Where Barada Nati comes from

Barada Nati (also written Barada Nritya) is the masked dance of the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand, performed by men of the community in the winter season (typically during the Makar Sankranti period and at the regional festivals of the Garhwal). The form is associated with the wooden-mask tradition of the Garhwali and Kumaoni communities and with the dramatic characters of the local mythology (particularly the figures of the Mahabharata, the Pandava Lila, and the regional demons and gods). The Barada Nati was one of the few folk-arts of Uttarakhand to be protected under the Sangeet Natak Akademi's folk-arts preservation programme. Today the dance is performed at the major state cultural festivals of Uttarakhand and at the regional winter melas.

How it's practiced

Barada Nati is performed by troupes of men in the Garhwal villages in the courtyard of the host's home or in the open ground of the village fair. The men wear carved wooden masks representing the characters (the Pandava, the Kaurava, the demons and the gods of the Garhwal tradition) and perform the dance with vigorous footwork, dramatic postures and gestures. The accompanying music is the dhol and the shehnai, with the small cymbals and the nagara. Costume is the regional Garhwal traditional dress — the dhoti, the colourful woollen shawl, the regional cap and the wooden mask of the character. Performances run for several hours through the winter evening, with each character taking the stage in sequence.