Kalbelia

Understand

Where Kalbelia comes from

The Kalbelia are a traditional snake-charming and herbalist community of Rajasthan, formerly classified by the British as a criminal tribe under the Criminal Tribes Act 1871. The community is best known for its distinctive dance — the women perform swaying movements that mimic the cobra and other serpents, while the men play the been (snake-charmer's pungi) and the dholak. In 2010 UNESCO inscribed Kalbelia folk songs and dances on its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The dance is usually performed at marriages and at the Holi festival, with a parallel tradition of elaborate black embroidery with mirrored work that the community also practices. The Kalbelia have traditionally combined music, dance and the handling of snakes in their performances, and their Dhol songs are recognised by Sangeet Natak Akademi as well as UNESCO for their artistry.

How it's practiced

The dance is performed by men and women together. The men sit or stand at the back playing the been (pungi), dholak and dhol, while the women move in sinuous serpentine sequences — bending, twisting and undulating the torso and arms as if imitating a snake rising from a charmer's basket. The women's costume is the black angrakha with wide embroidered borders of white and red, with the long swirling skirt (a ghagra) spinning with the movement. The dance speeds up as the tempo of the dholak and been rises, with the women spinning and the snake-charmer showing the cobra at the climactic moment.