Hojagiri

Understand

Where Hojagiri comes from

Hojagiri is a folk dance performed by young women of the Reang (Bru) community of Tripura. The dance is one of the most distinctive regional traditions of the state and is performed at the regional festivals and at the cultural programmes of Tripura. The dance is documented as a women's balancing-dance form with the distinctive feature that the dancers only move the lower half of the body while balancing various objects (bottles, lamps, earthen pots) on the head and hands. The form is recognised as one of the most distinctive women's dance traditions of the Northeast and is regularly performed at the cultural pageants of the state and of the country.

How it's practiced

Hojagiri is performed by 4-6 young women of the Reang community in a small group at the courtyard of the host or at the central village square. 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 at the regional festivals of the Reang community. Music is the dhol, the small cymbals and the songs of the Hojagiri cycle. Costume is the colourful Reang women's dress — the sarong, the colourful blouse and the heavy silver jewellery of the Reang tradition. Performances are at the regional festival and at the cultural programmes of the state.