Karma Naach (Chhattisgarh)

Understand

Where Karma Naach (Chhattisgarh) comes from

Karma Naach is the most widely practised tribal dance of Chhattisgarh — celebrated annually at the Karma festival of August-September in honour of the tribal deity Karam Devta. The dance is performed by the Oraon, Munda, Gond, Kisan and Halba tribal communities of the state (and their equivalents across Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal). The Karma festival and the associated dance is the central harvest celebration of the central Indian Adivasi belt, with the sacred Karma tree-branch (the sal tree branch, sal being sacred to the Karam Devta) cut from the forest and brought ceremonially to the village-square. The dance today is celebrated not only in the villages but at state cultural pageants and in the urban festivals of Chhattisgarh.

How it's practiced

Karma Naach is performed by men and women in a circle around the sacred Karma branch, which is held in the centre of the village square (traditionally not touching the ground). The dancers hold arms around each other's waists and step in coordinated patterns, the women bending low and the men springing forward. The choreography includes the characteristic motion of the sapauri (the small kali/jhula side-step) and the gedi-bedi-stance jumps. Music is provided by the timki (the small drum), the chhalla, payri and jhumki instruments, with the principal rhythm set by the timki. Costume is the everyday tribal dress of Chhattisgarh — the colourful sari for women and the dhoti-kurta for men, with the customary head-cloth and the small tribal jewellery.