Gondhal (Chhattisgarh)

Understand

Where Gondhal (Chhattisgarh) comes from

Gondhal is the devotional dance-and-percussion tradition performed by men of the Gond and Kunbi communities of Chhattisgarh (and of adjacent Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka — the heritage is shared across central India). The dance is associated with the all-night festival of the village shrine (the gondhal) and the worship of local mother-goddesses and Kuldevta deities (Khandoba, Satwai, Bahirav). The dance has its roots in the pre-Aryan rural devotional culture of central India and was preserved in Chhattisgarh under the Kalachuri, Maratha and Bhonsle administrations of the region before the post-Independence state formation. The dance is now performed at state cultural pageants and at the village festivals of the Gond and Kunbi communities.

How it's practiced

Gondhal is performed by men (typically 4-8 in a troupe) at the all-night village festival (the gondhal ceremony) at the local shrine. The lead singer narrates the religious story (the gondhal ballad) while the accompanists play the dhol, the zanj and a stringed drone instrument (the tambura or the bharpai). The dancer leads the choreography in time to the music, with the body swaying gently and the hands in slow gestures. Costume is the everyday Gond tribal dress — the dhoti and the kurta with the small turban or the head-cloth, the traditional Gond jewellery of silver and brass. The dance is performed through the night of the gondhal festival until the dawn of the next day.