Hai-hak (Hai Hak)

Understand

Where Hai-hak (Hai Hak) comes from

Hai-hak is a dance specific to the Halam community within the Tripuri people of Tripura, performed to honour the goddess Lakshmi after the annual harvest. The dance is one of the lesser-documented but living traditions of the Halam community and is performed at the Lakshmi Puja of the Halam shrine of the village. The form is associated with the post-harvest gratitude of the Halam community and is one of the documented regional dance traditions of Tripura. The dance is performed at the regional festivals of the community and at the cultural programmes of the state.

How it's practiced

Hai-hak is performed by men and women of the Halam community at the central courtyard of the Halam shrine of the village during the Lakshmi Puja of the post-harvest season. The men and women dance in coordinated steps to the song of the Hai-hak cycle and to the rhythm of the dhol and the small flutes. The dance is gentle, with the small stepping rhythm of the Halam tradition. Costume is the traditional Halam dress — the colourful rignai and the dhoti. Performances are at the Lakshmi Puja of the Halam community and at the cultural programmes of the state.