Jhula (Jhulan)

Understand

Where Jhula (Jhulan) comes from

Jhula (Jhulan) is the swing-dance of the Hindustani heartland — performed in rural UP and Bihar especially during the monsoon month of Savan (July-August). The Jhula (or Hindola) is the small swing or cradle hung from a tree or a beam, dedicated to Krishna in his childhood (the Baal Jhulan) and to Radha-Krishna's monsoon romance. The dance is closely related to the wider Sanskritic tradition of the Hindola festival of Krishna, and is celebrated with singing and the swinging of decorated cradles in temples and houses. In the Braj region the Jhula festival is celebrated especially in Varanasi and Mathura, with the Jhula songs sung during the monsoon forming an important part of the Braj literary heritage. The dance has been a defining monsoon image of the North Indian village and is now frequently adapted for stage performances.

How it's practiced

Jhula is performed by women and girls (sometimes with men) in the courtyard of a village home or temple, with the swing (jhula) hung from a tree branch or from a roof beam. The cradles are decorated with marigold and jasmine garlands and with small mirrors and coloured tinsels. The dancers sing the Jhula songs (a sub-genre of the Braj monsoon poetry of Vidyapati and other Bhakti poets) and swing the cradle in time to the song, with the women themselves often joining in a gentle dance — moving around the cradle with swaying hips and graceful hand gestures. Costume is the colourful Braj sari with the flower jewellery and the silver anklets. Performance builds over hours through the monsoon nights. The accompanying instruments are the dholak, the manjira and the small cymbals, with occasional bansuri (flute).