Kud (Kud Dance)

Understand

Where Kud (Kud Dance) comes from

Kud is the women's folk-dance of the Jammu region, performed by women of the Dogra and the Kashmiri communities of Jammu at the spring festival and at the social gatherings. The dance is associated with the celebration of the new harvest and the social life of the women of the community. The form is one of the documented regional traditions of Jammu and is regularly performed at the cultural programmes of the state. The Kud is one of the lesser-documented but living traditions of the Jammu women and forms part of the broader Jammu folk-dance repertoire.

How it's practiced

Kud is performed by women of the Jammu community in a circle at the central courtyard of the village or at the open ground of the festival. The women perform in coordinated small hand-gestures and the swaying steps of the Jammu tradition. Music is the dhol, the nagara and the small regional instruments. Costume is the everyday Jammu dress — the pheran (for the Kashmiri women) or the ghagra-kurti (for the Dogra women), with the regional jewellery. Performances are at the spring festival of the community and at the cultural programmes of the state.