Nati (Chandigarh)

Understand

Where Nati (Chandigarh) comes from

Nati is the Pahari folk-dance of the surrounding Himachal region of Chandigarh (the Pahari areas of the Sirmaur, Solan and Bilaspur districts), performed by the men and women of the community at the marriage cycle. The dance is the regional adaptation of the broader Himachali Nati tradition. The form is regularly performed at the cultural programmes of the union territory and at the regional Pahari community festivals of Chandigarh.

How it's practiced

Nati is performed by men and women of the Pahari community of the surrounding Himachal region in a circle at the central courtyard of the village or at the open ground of the festival. The men and women perform in coordinated small clapping-steps to the song of the Nati cycle and to the rhythm of the dhol and the small cymbals. The dance is gentle, with the small stepping rhythm of the Pahari tradition. Costume is the everyday Pahari dress — the colourful ghagra-kurti for the women and the dhoti-kurta for the men. Performances are at the marriage cycle and at the cultural programmes of the union territory.