Kachhi Ghodi

Understand

Where Kachhi Ghodi comes from

Kachhi Ghodi is a male folk dance of the Shekhawati region of Rajasthan (the districts of Jhunjhunu, Sikar and Churu), performed by the Bhil, Meena and other tribal communities of the area at weddings and at Holi. The dance, with its mock-horse costume and mock-sword-clashing, originated in the equestrian tradition of Rajput chieftains — the male dancers enact the groom's party riding on horseback to claim the bride. The dance grew into a community celebration in which the groom's family dances the mock-horse on the way to the bride's village, with the dummy horses timed to the wedding procession. Today the dance is performed at weddings and festivals across Rajasthan and at cultural performances outside the state.

How it's practiced

Male dancers wear a brightly-painted wooden dummy of a horse torso around their waist, with the head of the horse in front and the tail at the back; their legs are visible below the dummy and they walk in prancing steps that mimic the gallop of a horse. Dancers typically wield small swords or 'khanda' (wooden sword-shaped sticks) and perform mock-combat movements as they advance and retreat to the dhol. The body-torso of the dummy is painted with colourful Rajasthani motifs and the dancer wears a turban, dhoti and angarakha tunic. The dance is led by a primary male dancer with a group of attendants, and is performed at weddings, the groom's procession and Holi festivals.