Gavri

Understand

Where Gavri comes from

Gavri (or Gavri Nritya) is a men's folk-dance-ritual of the Bhil and tribal communities of the Mewar region of southern Rajasthan, performed in the eight days following Holi. The dance is dedicated to Aranyani, the forest goddess, and is one of the most important ritual observances of the Bhil tribal year. The form is documented as a distinctive tribal religious expression of the Udaipur-Banswara-Dungarpur forest belt, where men of the villages dance in honour of the goddess and to seek her blessing of the forests and the new agricultural year. The dance is performed at a particular open site (the rani or royal grove) of the village and is one of the few Rajasthani folk dances with a strongly religious core.

How it's practiced

Gavri is performed by men of the Bhil community, who dance in honour of goddess Aranyani throughout the eight nights following Holi, visiting a number of sacred groves in a procession. Dancers carry bows and arrows, sometimes swords, and perform in a circle or in lines to the drumming of the dhol and the singing of devotional songs. The dance has a ritual preamble in which the village elder worships the local shrine, and the entire dance is performed as a vow to the goddess for the prosperity of the village. Costume is the everyday Bhil tribal dress — coloured dhoti, head-cloth and heavy silver jewellery. The dance is community-wide and includes men, women and children observing around the procession.