“LOK TARANG” – National Folk Dance Festival – 2008

The Ministry of  Culture, Government  of India in association with the seven Zonal Cultural Centres (ZCCs) is organising ‘National Folk Dance Festival’ from 24^th to 29^th January, 2008 as part of the ensuing Republic Day  celebrations. The festival carries the  name ‘Loktarang’ and its logo is  'Peacock'. This festival is a regular event which is being organized by the Ministry of Culture every year. The objective of organizing this festival is to showcase the rich cultural heritage of our country represented through folk dances. This event will provide a unique opportunity for the people to witness colourful, vibrant and authentic folk dances drawn from various parts of the country and will go a long way in preserving, promoting and disseminating Indian folk dances as a part of Indian art and culture.

2. The National Folk Dance Festival will commence on 24^th January, 2008. H.E. the President of India, Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil, has kindly consented to inaugurate  the Festival at the  Hamsadhwani Open Air Theatre, Pragati Maidan on 24th January, 2008 at 6:00 PM. Smt. Ambika Soni, Hon'ble Minister of  Tourism & Culture will preside over the function. The inaugural show  will begin with the  lighting of a lamp to invoke the Agni (Fire), the most essential of the five basic elements of life known as ‘Panch Mahabhoots’. Thereafter, folk dance troupes will put up performance in Hamsadhwani Open Air Theatre and other places in Delhi as per the schedule given at  Annexure-I.  Forty two  (42) Folk dances selected from twenty eight (28) States and  two (2) Union Territories with about seven hundred (700) folk artists are participating in this event as per details given  at Annexure –II.

3. As folk dances are borne out of  the traditional  needs of the  people, these are strongly influenced by their religious and social beliefs. Each folk dance during the event is connected in a unique way to the people of the concerned region. The themes  relate to celebration of good harvest season, worshipping gods, traditional rituals on the occasion of birth and marriage, agricultural practices, celebrating different festivals and seasons, tribute to nature etc,. These folk dances, thus, underline the spirit of unity in the cultural diversity of our country and also generate cultural consciousness  among the masses towards their rich cultural heritage they can feel proud of.

4. Some of  the salient features with regard to folk dances participating in this event  this year are as follows;-

1. Folk dances that had become extinct and have been revived with the efforts of the Zonal Cultural Centers (under the scheme of Guru Shishya Parampara)  and brought to national capital for  performances –  (05- Nos.) 
   (1) Khurpui Lam (Kom) dance  - Manipur  (2) Sirmouri Nati -Himachal Pradesh (3) Malwai Gidda - Punjab (4) Jangam dance - Haryana (5) Kud dance - Jammu & Kashmir

2. Folk Dances coming for the first time –  (13- Nos.) 
   (1) Mayur dance-  Uttar Pradesh (2) Sama-chakewa dance-Bihar (3) Bhadam dance - Madhya Pradesh (4) Ghasiyari dance - Uttarakhand (5) Animal Mask dance - Orissa (6)  Kaa-Kong Tokai(Cock-fight) dance - Arunachal Pradesh    (7) Khurpui Lam (Kom) dance  - Manipur  (8)  Lewatana dance  - Meghalaya    (9) Mungyanta Harvest dance - Nagaland  (10)  Maruni dance  - Sikkim     (11) Sirmouri Nati - Himachal Pradesh (12) Kummi Kolattam  dance - Tamilnadu  (13) Vasava Holi  dance - Gujarat

3. Folk  dances restricted to women folk only – (11- Nos.) 
   (1) Mayur Dance - Uttar Pradesh (2) Sama Chakewa - Bihar (3) Ghasiyari dance - Uttarakhand (4) Mungyanta Harvest dance - Nagaland  (5) Maruni dance  - Sikkim (6) Kalbelia Dance -  Rajasthan  (7)   Lavani Dance-Maharashtra  (8) Oppana dance- Keral  (9) Kummi Kolattam  dance - Tamilnadu  (10) Sambhalpuri  dance - Orissa (11) Gidda dance -Punjab  

4. Folk Dances performed by males only –  (21- Nos.) 
   (1) Bhadam dance-Madhya Pradesh (2) Bhavai dance-Rajasthan (3) Purulia Chhau - West Bengal (4) Animal Mask dance-Orissa (5) Gussadi dance-Andhra Pradesh(6) Kathi dance-Madhya Pradesh(7)Dhangari Gaja dance-Maharashtra  (8) Yakshgaan - Karnataka  (9) Dhollu Kunitha - Karnataka  (10)   Kaa-Kong Tokai(Cock-fight) dance - Arunachal Pradesh (11) Malwai Gidda - Punjab  (12) Jangam dance-Haryana  (13) Kud dance - Jammu & Kashmir  (14) Vasava Holi dance - Gujarat (15) Ghodemodeni dance -Goa  (16) Siddhi Dhamal dance - Gujarat (17) Parichakali dance -   Lakshadweep (18) Pong - Cholam dance - Manipur  (19) Panthi dance  - Chhattisgarh     (20) Gotipua dance - Orissa (21) Mangniyar  - Rajasthan

5. Folk dances relating to martial art –  (03- Nos.) 
   (1)  Purulia Chhau dance - West Bengal  (2)     Parichakali dance -   Lakshadweep (3) Ghodemodeni dance -Goa

6. The tribal dances –  ( 17- Nos.) 
   (1)Bhadam dance-Madhya Pradesh  (2)  Bizu dance-Tripura  (3) Animal Mask dance -Orissa (4) Karma dance-Jharkhand (5) Gussadi dance-Andhra Pradesh (6) Dhangari Gaja dance - Maharashtra  (7) Gaur Maria - Chhattisgarh (8) Kaa-Kong Tokai(Cock-fight) dance -  Arunachal Pradesh (9) Khurpui   Lam  (Kom) dance  - Manipur  (10) Lewatana dance  - Meghalaya (11) Sarlamkai /Solakia-Mizoram (12)  Mungyanta Harvest dance - Nagaland  (13) Maruni dance  - Sikkim (14) Flower dance - Leh (J&K)  (15) Vasava Holi dance - Gujarat (16) Nicobari dance - Andaman Nicobar Islands (17) Pong - Cholam dance - Manipur

7. Drum dances –  (04- Nos.) (1) Bhadam dance-Madhya Pradesh (2)   Gaur Maria dance - Chhattisgarh (3) Dhollu Kunitha dance - Karnataka  (4) Pong - Cholam dance - Manipur 

8. Mask dances – (02- Nos.) (1) Purulia Chhau dance -West Bengal (2) Animal Mask dance- Orissa  

5.  During the Republic Day Parade, three children contingents will be presenting folk dances viz. Gour Maria dance, Chhattisgarh from SCZCC-Nagpur,  Lambadi dance, Andhra Pradesh from SZCC-Thanjavur and Wangla dance, Meghalaya from  NEZCC-Dimapur on Rajpath on 26^th January, 2008.