Mhari (Mhari Nritya)

Understand

Where Mhari (Mhari Nritya) comes from

Mhari is the women-and-men-festival dance of the Daman and Diu community, performed at the social gatherings of the region. The dance is associated with the cultural and the social life of the Daman and Diu community and is performed at the central courtyard of the host. The form is one of the lesser-documented but living traditions of DNH and is regularly performed at the cultural programmes of the union territory.

How it's practiced

Mhari is performed by men and women of the Daman and Diu community in a circle at the central courtyard of the host or at the open ground of the festival. The men and women perform in coordinated steps to the song of the Mhari cycle and to the rhythm of the dhol and the small regional instruments. The dance is gentle, with the small stepping rhythm of the Konkani tradition. Costume is the everyday Daman and Diu dress — the sari for the women and the dhoti-kurta for the men. Performances are at the central courtyard and at the cultural programmes of the union territory.