Tarpa Dance

Understand

Where Tarpa Dance comes from

Tarpa dance takes its name from the tarpa, a single-reed wind instrument native to the Warli tribes of the Sahyadri Range. The instrument and its dance are a single cultural unit — the tarpa is said to have been given to the Warli by their god Naran, and the dance is dedicated to the gods of the harvest. The dance is traditionally prescribed to be performed in the period from the September harvest to Diwali, though it is also performed at Holi and at weddings. The Bohada festival of Palghar district (held in the months after Diwali) is the largest contemporary celebration of tarpa dance in Maharashtra.

How it's practiced

Tarpa dance is performed by men and women in concentric circles, with the tarpa player at the centre producing the sustained two-pipe drone. Dancers hold hands and step in coordinated rhythms, occasionally breaking into smaller group formations or paired dance. The dance typically begins at sunset and progresses through the night to dawn, with the tarpa and dhol providing continuous accompaniment. Costume is the everyday village dress of the Warli community, ornamented with traditional silver jewellery; the dance is also the central iconographic motif of the Warli painting tradition. Patrons from outside the community also sometimes sponsor the dance to symbolically consecrate their fields for the next harvest.