Koli Dance

Understand

Where Koli Dance comes from

The Kolis are an agriculturist and fishing community spread across Gujarat, Maharashtra and Konkan. They were recognised as a martial caste by the British during World War I, and the Kolis of Gujarat were historically well-known pirates of the Arabian Sea. The Koli dance tradition of Maharashtra is the coastal, sea-oriented strand of the community's folk culture, with songs and steps that draw on the rhythms of fishing life and the marine landscape of the Konkan coast.

How it's practiced

Koli dance is performed by groups of men and women in the coastal districts, accompanied by the ghumat (a hand-played drum unique to the Koli tradition) and small clappers. Male dancers wear the traditional surka — a tall conical head-dress — with coloured cloth and ornaments; female dancers wear the standard Marathi sari. Movement is rhythmic and processional, with formations that echo the pulling of nets and the rocking of boats. The dance is performed at community weddings, festivals and the seasonal openings of the fishing year.