Sakela (Sakkela) Dance

Understand

Where Sakela (Sakkela) Dance comes from

Sakela is the dance of the Rai and Limbu (Kiranti) community of Sikkim and the eastern Nepal, performed at the Sakela festival (the central harvest-celebration of the Kiranti community). The Sakela is performed at the central courtyard of the village and is associated with the celebration of the new harvest. The form is one of the most distinctive regional traditions of the Kiranti community of the eastern Himalayas and is regularly performed at the cultural programmes of Sikkim and the eastern Nepal.

How it's practiced

Sakela is performed by men and women of the Kiranti community 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 steps to the song of the Sakela cycle and to the rhythm of the dhol and the small regional instruments. The dance is gentle, with the small stepping rhythm of the Kiranti tradition. Costume is the everyday Kiranti dress — the men's dhoti and the women's wrap. Performances are at the Sakela festival and at the cultural programmes of the state.