Dalkhai-The Voyage Of Dance

        The history of dance in relation to the history of humankind predates to any written word and is intimately tied with the development and unique expression of various cultures. Since the dawn of civilization, music has greatly influenced man. Life is nothing but struggle for existence, to exist and lead a meaningful life we need four things, a piece of land, a language, a religion and a fistful of culture.   Religion gives strength to go ahead in his venture. Culture polishes and brightens. From time immemorial, we still strongly feel and require these four things for our survival. 

 

     In community living to express his woe and elation, his individual experience he created language. Language transforms into songs, and from songs, he created music. In search for his livelihood he started to work in the field, while working, from the movement of his body he discovered rhythm. While telling his experiences he created tales, stories and epics.  While depicting his experiences his body started to move in a wonderful rhythmic order and for the first time he dances. That dance is folk dance.  

    Indian folk and tribal dances are simple dances, and are performed to articulate joy. Folk and tribal dances are performed for every possible occasion, to celebrate the arrival of seasons, birth of a child, a wedding and festivals. The dances are extremely effortless with minimum of steps or movement. The dances explode with dynamism and vivacity. Men and women perform some dances exclusively, while in some performances men and women dance together. On most occasions, the dancers sing themselves, while being accompanied by artists on the instruments. Each form of dance has a specific costume. Most costumes are ostentatious with extensive trinkets. While there are numerous ancient folk and tribal dances, many are persistently being enhanced. The skill and the imagination of the dances sway the performance.

     Folk Dances are more illustrious than the Classical Dances in India as they are easier to comprehend and perform. In the primordial, undersized society, dance was born, for satisfying the needs of the early man, but with the evolution of civilization, all art forms assumed some idiosyncratic characteristics. Thus, dance became refined and accurate mean of expression resulting in the more prominent expression of the folk dance. Thus in due course of time several branches of folk dance were born on the basis of regional geographical differences and variety of form and culture. Every state in India has its own language, religion, customs and traditions festivals and costumes. The folk Dances of each state act as the mirror of that particular state’s culture, traditions and customs of the people belong to that state.

             

     Interpreting folk dances one can get a valuable information which can be more useful in perceptive local culture, myths and folklore that are deeply rooted in that culture, convictions and belief system, which native people follows. In a nutshell folk dances provide an important scaffold to understand social context of a particular region in detail.

             

     So far as the origin of any folk art is concerned there is no such evidence or witness of this. Same is true in the case of Dalkhai. Some philosophers give their view regarding Dalkhai as a tribal ritualistic form. In ancient period when people were living in jungles, they were very much attached with nature. They worship many objects like tree, sun, moon, rain, water, fire as their supreme power who protects them from all suspicions. During that period they believed in the worship of symbols (pratika) instead of the images (pratima).

 

     Similarly during Dalkhai they worship several branches of 8 different trees. The branches in local language of West Odisha are known as Daal. Perhaps from this the name Dalkhai may be coined. During this the branches, leafs and flowers of many trees like aam, bata, pipala, aanla, bela, mandar are being decorated and also offered to the deity.Dalkhai Usha which is now termed as Bhaijuintia was previously the worship to the supreme mother Dalkhai for the good will of the village, but with due course of time it has been attached with the ritual popularly known as Bhaijiuntia.

 

             

 According to one of the renowned researcher of Folk  culture of Western Odisha Sri Bagirathi Nepak as in songs of the Dalkhai the term is being used both in the beginning as well as in the end that’s why it is known as Dalkhai. Again according to Sri Abhimanyu Pradhan during the season autumn the adivasis may got astonished with the beauty of nature, for which they could have offered all the natural things available in the mother nature during that season to their supreme deity and could have named them as “DALKHAI DEVI”. And their festival is known as “Dalkhai”. Another resource person of Western Odisha Dr. Shyam Sundar Dhar said in his write-up that the base cultured meaning of Dalkhai is Aparna. The term Aparna denotes Goddess Durga or Parvati. So the worship of goddess Durga is known as DALKHAI. During the worship several leafs and branches of trees are being used. 

 There are many evidence of the association of history with the Dalkhai Usha, folk researcher Sri Udemani Patel says during the independence movement in 1857-58 some of the kings who were associated with the great freedom fighter  Surendra Sai , the jamindaars from Ghens of  Bargarh district Hati Singh, Kunjal Singh & Hate Singh have played an important role. These rulers continued their fight against the Britishers  by establishing different Ghatis in Barapahad and many other mountains of the district. Among those Hate Singh was in charge of the Singhghoda Ghati. During his period Hate Sing killed and hanged some of the Britishers in the trees. After getting this news the Britishers burnt the entire village Ghens. All the villagers ran into the forest in panic. There they worshiped the forest Goddess(bandevi) to get rid of the calamities. This was the the origin of DALKHAI Sri Patel says. But the evidence regarding the origin of DALKHAI is not worthy as it has happened just 160 years back, but the evidence what we have got earlier says the root of this divine art form dates back to the Sindhu Sabhyata.

 There are so many myths behind the observation of the Dalkhai tradition among which the story of Uinlabati was very famous one. According to Scanddha Puran, once upon a time there was a enormous sovereign in dakshin koshal named Thala raja ruling his province. His wife’s name was Bimala. The king has got two kids-  a son named Dalaraja, and a beautiful daughter named Uinlabati. One day the princess Uinlabati went to the river with her grandmother in the morning, while taking bath she saw a leaf-cup (Dana) was floating over the water. She became curious to know about it. When it came nearer to them they saw the leaf-cup was filled with worshiping articles like flowers, sundried rice (Arua chaula), puffed rice (Lia), a bunch of evergreen grass (Duba) etc. When Uinlabati saw all those things she catched that leaf-cup and asked her grandmother about that. When her grandmother saw all those things she became amazed and very happy also. She said that it’s their good fortune of receiving these sorts of holy things. She told Uinlabati that in heaven yesterday unmarried girls were doing a ritual and fasting for the wellbeing of their brothers, and these are the things which they had used in worshiping and after the ritual they sailed all these things out. When Uinlabati came to know that they worshiped the supreme mother Goddess Durga for the wellbeing of their brothers, she became fascinated to do those rituals. Her grandmother helped her in that as she knew the proper procedure of this particular ritual. From that day the ritual-Bhai Jiuntia is prevalent in the entire western part of Odisha.

 

     One more myth or story come in this line is during ancient times there was the rule of king “Chalita” in  Koshala.his wife “Lilabati” and he had two sons named “Debahari & Ramahari” and two daughter in laws named “Tulsi & Dahana”. Still the royal couple had a desire of having a daughter. They offered many  worships to God for having a daughter, and finally by the blessings of the almighty they got blessed with a beautiful  daughter. They named her “Rahela”. At the age of seven “Rahela” showed her inclination and interest towards doing the DALKHAI PUJA. She told her parents to give her the worshiping articles for the puja. But thye refused her for the same considering it to be a bogus thing to do. Nobody believed her. She failed to convince all for this and finally committed suicide in the village pond near the “Nutei Dhobini tutha”. Her parents and villagers searched her everywhere and they got the news of her suicide and when they went to the bank of the pond they got surprised by seeing her playing along with the seven sisters known as “sat bahani”. “Rahela” refused to come along with her parents. As her parents requested “sat bahani” to convince her to come with them they instructed them to provide all the worshiping articles to “Rahela” then only she will go along with them. The king assured “Rahela” to allow her to do DALKHAI puja. Since then this DALKHAI puja is being observed.

 

THE DANCE

    Although Dalkhai is performed as a ritual, dance and song remains its principal interest. 

 

     The Dalkhai  reflects the medieval conception of music(sangeet) as a composite art, including in its fold        (a) songs(or compositions of musical notes together with words), (b) instruments to support the melody and accentuate. The rhythm  (or time measure), and (c) dance (‘nritta’ i.e. pure dance without the ‘abhinaya’ or the representational aspect ). Songs and instruments go together, and dance starts after the song takes a pause since the singing cannot go on when there is fast body  movement, particularly as the upper part of the body has to be bent foreword from the waist almost up to a horizontal position. The position of the dancers is quite similar with the image given below:   

 

 

 

     After a brief but stimulating spell of instrumental exercise, the Dalkhai song starts smartly with the invocative ‘Dalkhai Re’ , ‘Dalkhai Bo’ and at times it may be  ‘Dalkhai Ga’. It proceeds with the mild , rhythmic beats of the drums till it comes to the last line of the stanza. The repetition of the last foot of the last line predicts the approaching halt. Simultaneously with the halt, starts the explosive playing of the instruments as well as the group dance. After the dancing spell comes to a halt on a cue given by a particular phase of drumming, the song resumes and the process goes on till the close. How the Dalkhai songs and dance and drumming fill the surroundings with thrilling joys have only to be experienced to be believed. It may appear crude when compared with Odissi , but it is far more energized and intoxicating.

     The performance of Dalkhai formerly used to belong to the so-called lower orders. The singers-cum-dancers belong to the fair sex while the instrument-players are men. Though mostly young girls are the singers, middle-aged women at times deservingly get a place of honor in the group.

     Dalkhai has a social and religious background; it is group- singing and groupdancing connected with the worship of Goddess Durga, the demon-killing Mother and the embodiment of ‘power’. The worship period and hence, the main period of Dalkhai performance is Autumn. Thematically, Dalkhai songs present a variegated poetic picture. Nature, common natural objects and phenomena with man at the centre-stage, social behaviourand situation, and particularly human passion, which is a source of ecstasy and continuance of the race, are variously celebrated in Dalkhai songs and dance.

 

 

INSTRUMENTS

    The combination of five Lokabadyas of western Odisha is known as “Panchabadya”. It has also have some local names they are- Ganda Baja/ Dulduli Baja/ Bajnia Baja. The instruments which come under Panchabadya and which is played in Dalkhai danceare:

•        DHOL

•        NISHAN/LISHAN/LUHA

•        TASA

•        TIMKIDI / TIMKI

•        MUHURI

 

 

             

     Dhunkel another typical musical instrument is played to invoke the sixteen different God and Goddess to the Dalkhai kuthi. Dhunkel is a combination of different instruments like a flat shaped thing made of bamboo rattan called Kula (winnow), two bamboo sticks like bow and one round shaped clay pot. 

     Musician who played the Dhunkel are known as Gouni or Gayan.  The deep sound produced by this typical instrument takes the listener to another world. All the instruments are venerated before being played. As they are used for the worship of goddess and are themselves manifestation of the goddess, they thus need to be worshipped beforehand.

                        (DHUNKEL)

COSTUME & MAKE-UP

 The tribals use very colorful costumes and ornaments. Their costumes are as simple as the life they usually lead. They are the man of nature, everything which they use are the gift of nature. Similarly the costume and ornaments they use are inspired from nature.  The girls or women wear dui muhi Sambalpuri Sarees which are being made in their locality. They wear the sarees up to ankle. They also use a long piece of cloth popularly known as GAMCHHA while dancing. The reason behind using gamchha is, in ancient days girls were not using blouse, so while dancing they used to carry it for the sake of comfort ability.

 

 

 

CONCLUSION

         In the time past India had been invaded by Romans, Huns, Moguls, Arabs, Turkish, Persians, Portuguese and British the consequences of which are evident significantly in our folk culture. Cultural foray of the Persian and Muslim have greatly influenced the folk dance and music of Northern India.  However, the folk dance and music of western Orissa is able to maintain its pristine purity due to its remote geographical conditions. In recent time industrialization and urbanization has deeply influenced folk culture. They are rapidly losing their uniqueness. Dalkhai is no exception to it.  Dalkhai has undergone a sea change and has moved from the tribal areas to the urban centers of culture. To make it more presentable different dress code and ornaments are being prescribed, this has vandalized the sacred ritual and turn it into a mere means of entertainment. The simplicity and purity with which Dalkhai was originally associated is no more visible.  Since Dalkhai is incontrovertible and indissoluble part of Sambalpuri culture and has a rich religious significance, we should try our best to preserve its religious inviolability. 

 Modern man is craving for material excellence and technological advancement. Sophisticated industries are coming up to sustain humanity on this planet. Indifference has ignored heritage. Past is getting buried deeper in lost human memory. They need perpetuation, documentation and interpretation. Who has to preserve our heritage? Who shall salvage us from this quagmire? Is it you? Is it us?  This is the time-now or never.

Photo courtesy :

Late Dr. Dilip Kumar Padhee

Sri Priyabrata Pradhan

 

Content researched and written by :

SUPRITEE MISHRA

Lecturer(Sambalpuri Dance)

School of Performing Arts

Sambalpur University

E-mail- suprittem@gmail.com