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Performing Art · Uttar Pradesh
शाहजहाँपुरी
The folk-dance tradition of Shahjahanpur — the western UP region's distinctive folk-art form associated with the mango and bamboo crafts community, performed at local festivals and weddings.
Understand
The Shahjahanpuri folk dance is the folk-dance tradition associated with the city of Shahjahanpur in western Uttar Pradesh (the Gola-Gomti river belt). The district is known for its mango and bamboo crafts (the Shahjahanpuri mango is one of the GI-tagged varieties of UP), its lac-bangle industry, and the cultural tradition that draws on the Hindu-Muslim syncretic heritage of the region. The folk-dance tradition of the area includes the Shahjahanpuri Ginni dance and the Shahjahanpuri Raaii Dhamal, performed at regional weddings and at Muharram. The dances have been preserved as part of the State folk-culture programme. Today the dance continues in the cultural pageants of the city and at the local melas of the Gola-Gomti plain.
The Shahjahanpuri folk dance is performed by men and women in a circle, dancing to the dholak and the heavy rhythm of the nagada. The dance is characterised by vigorous hand-claps, hip-swaying and quick footwork, often in a celebratory mood at a wedding procession or at the Muharram observance. The accompanying songs are the regional Awadhi folk poetry of the Gola-Gomti region. Costume is the everyday Gola-Gomti dress of the district — the colourful cotton sari for the women, often with the lac-bangle bracelets of the region, and the dhoti-kurta with the small regional cap for the men. The dance is performed at the wedding village and at the local melas of the district in open ground settings.
The folk-dance tradition of Shahjahanpur — the western UP region's distinctive folk-art form associated with the mango and bamboo crafts community, performed at local festivals and weddings.
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