Hojagiri (Manipur)

Understand

Where Hojagiri (Manipur) comes from

Hojagiri is the women's balancing-dance form of the Meitei community of Manipur (and the closely-related Reang community of Tripura) performed at the regional festival and at the marriage. The dance is performed by young women (4-6 members in a team) balancing objects such as earthen pots, bottles and lamps on the head and hands while moving only the lower half of the body. The dance is associated with the regional harvest and the marriage cycle. The form is closely related to the better-known Hojagiri of Tripura (which the Reang community brought to the state) and the two traditions are part of the broader eastern-Indian women's balancing-dance tradition. The dance is regularly performed at the cultural programmes of Manipur and Tripura.

How it's practiced

Hojagiri is performed by young women of the Meitei community in a small group at the village festival or the marriage. The women balance the pots, bottles and lamps on the head and hands, moving only the lower half of the body in slow coordinated steps. The dance is performed in a circle (or in two facing rows) with the central object as the focus. Music is the dhol and the small cymbals, with the song of the Hojagiri cycle. Costume is the colourful Meitei women's sari with the heavy silver jewellery and the traditional head-cloth. Performances are at the village festival and at the cultural programmes of the state.