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About type of art
Tur dance Dhodia tribe
Name of Tribal Dance Tur dance
Name of Tribe Dhodia tribe
Name of Performers with mobile Numbers Mr.Chandubhai Patel
Team Leader, Mobile No. 9537643803
Meaning Significance
Dhodia tribe is the third largest tribe in terms of population among the tribes of Gujarat. Their habitat is mainly found in Surat, Tapi, Navsari and Valsad. The origin of the word Dhodia is related to agriculture. They are believed to derive their name from it as they mainly depended on agriculture. There is also a belief that the residents of Dhulia district are known as Dhodhia or Dhodia. They are believed to have come from Dhulia district and settled here. Dhulia district also has a population of Dhodia tribe. Like other tribes, Tur dance and Gheraiya dance are especially popular among the Dhodias.
Tur Dance is a unique style of dance of the Dhodia tribe. Tur Dance is performed by other tribes besides Dhodia tribe, but Tur Dance is the most popular dance of Dhodia tribe. They have been performing this dance traditionally for years. The religious, spiritual, social and cultural belief and emotions of the Dholiya tribe are associated with this dance. People of Dhodia tribe perform Tur dance on festivals such as cremation pilgrimage, mothers birthday, weddings, Holi - Diwali Makarsankranti kite festival etc. In ancient times, people of the Dhodia tribe used to play the tur when someone died in the village to take them for the cremation ground. Tur means small drum. They used to go with the corpse playing this dhol and returning from the cremation ground playing tur they came home. That is, the custom of playing tur here was special during the funeral pilgrimage. Then Tur dances when Matajis birthday comes. They do special worship of Amba Mata, Kalaka Mata, Meldi Mata, Mughal Mata etc. When this Matajis birthday comes, they celebrate by performing Tur dance. Then during Holi, Diwali, Makarsankranti kite festival different festivals, the people of this tribe celebrate with joy, gaiety, and tur dance with happiness. After that, the people of this tribe express happiness and joy by performing tur dance in engagements, weddings as well.
Dhodia tribe has a special purpose behind performing Tur dance. The purpose is that they play the trumpets during the cremation journey so that the person Jiva who has died and is about to embark on the journey to heaven, goes to heaven with joy, happiness and gleefully. It is one who is freed from the entanglements of family, society and the world. They perform Tur dance during Matajis varsi because they worship Amba Mata, Kalaka Mata, Mughal Mata. May all these mothers be pleased upon them and bestow happiness, peace and prosperity and to prevent calamity from befalling their family, they perform Tur dance during Matajis varsi. Tribal people are especially festivities people. They celebrate festivals like Holi, Diwali, Makarsankranti kite festival, Divaso Amavasya during the Ashada month etc. with pomp. People of Dhodia tribe express their happiness and joy by performing Tur dance during festivals like Holi, Diwali, and Makarsankranti etc. They celebrate these festivals with gusto. Today they also perform tur dance at the occasion engagement and wedding events. The purpose behind performing Tur Dance in Engagement & marriage is that there is an engagement or wedding in the family. The boy or girl who is about to be engaged and married. They dance Tur with the intention of celebrating their occasion with happiness, joy and love. Men and Women all participate in this dance. They dance for one to two hours and enjoy it.
Tur dance is in customary and popular dance of Dhodia Patel tribe. There is no special folklore or story been heard about this dance. It is believed that the person who has died from his own society or family travels to heaven with joy, happiness and willingly and does not have any attachment to family or society. Ambe Mata is mainly worshiped by the people of Dhodiya tribe. Apart from Amba Mata, they also worship goddesses such as Kalaka Mata, Mughal Mata etc. These deities are worshiped by the tribal people of the surrounding area. On Matajis birthday, they dance the tur for hours to please their tribal goddess Mata, to please her, to keep her jubilant. It is believed that by celebrating Matajis birthday in this way, Mataji remains gleefull to them. Apart from this, Tur dance is performed to celebrate the festivals of Holi, Diwali, Makar Sankranti with pomp and on occasions like weddings to ensure that the family event ends well. There is no religious, spiritual, social and cultural folklore, behind Tur dance.
Performance Context
Tur dance of the Dhodia tribe is a symbol of their religious, cultural, spiritual and social art heritage. Tur Dance People of Dhodhiya tribe perform this dance to celebrate any occasion with joy, gaiety, happiness. The people of Dhodia tribe specially celebrate it by performing tur dance during various events like cremation pilgrimage, mothers birthday, weddings, Holi, Diwali, Makarsankranti. Expresses joy, happiness, love.
The people of Dhodia tribe used to play a special tur during the cremation pilgrimage in the past. This tur means small drum. When a person dies in the family of this tribe, that person would travel to heaven with happiness, peace, happiness and joy and not be enamored of the family, the society, they were taken out for funeral procession by playing Tur. During this funeral, the family of the person deceased, plays a tur from their house to the place where the crematorium is done. The dead person is bid farewell by playing the trumpet with the hope that he will reside in heaven. Even when the cremation-goers return to home after the cremation of the dead person, they come home along with playing trumpets. Whatever grief has befallen the family, the trumpet is also played to ease that grief.
Matajis birthday is considered a very big festival in Dhodia tribe. The people of this tribe have special firm in Ambe Mata, Kalaka Mata, Mughal Mata and Meldi Mata. On day of Matajis birthday, they take out the procession of Mataji. During this procession, all the men and women who join in it dance to the tune of tur. Matajis birthday is celebrated with pomp. When the procession taken out, people gradually join it. The procession grows with larger extent of crowd. Everyone dances with joy, gusto, happiness. Mothers birthday is celebrated with pomp.
Holi is the most important event among the Dhodia tribe. Apart from Holi, Diwali, Makar Sankranti kite festival Divaso etc. are also celebrated with great enthusiasm. During these festivals they gather at a fixed place. There they play the trumpet and dance. All the people of the village join in these different festivals. People enjoy these festivals with great joy, happiness and performs tur dance.
Today, the practice of playing tur and dancing on engagement and wedding occasions among the Dhodia tribe is increasing. At the house of family going on the occasion of engagement and marriage. The boy and girl who are about to get engaged or married and the family in which the event has to taken place, invite family members, villagers, relatives to celebrate the engagement and wedding event with pomp and show. Through this dance he shows that he considers this occasion in his family and society to be an occasion of happiness and joy that should be celebrated well.
In the Dhodia caste, a flute is used while dancing. A trumpeter is called a turio. There are mainly 60 chalas steps in Tur dance. Chala steps means dance. It takes at least three to four hours for these 60 chalas steps to dance. They can complete these 60 chalas steps only if they dance the tur for three to four hours. Usually, only 10 to 15 Chalas steps perform where the Dhodias perform Tur dance. It takes them half an hour to do these 10 to 15 chalas. In each of these chalas they sing different garba and devotional songs bhajan. They are accompanied by two or three sailyas garba bhajan singers to sing these garba and bhajans. As they dance the tur, Matajis bhajans and garbas are sung by Sailya. When they dance the full tur, Sailya sings up to 60 bhajans and garbas. Sailya sings Matajis bhajans and garba as much as she does when she has to dance for half an hour to an hour. The singing of these bhajans and garbas creates a religious and spiritual atmosphere, so that religious, spiritual faith is created in the troupe who dances the tur and the spectators.
Tur dance has different chalas dances viz
1 First step Raise one leg and make a round circle.
2 Two steps
3 Two steps forward and three steps back
4 Two steps forward and two steps back
5 Three steps forward and two steps back
6 Get up son, go home. Dancers Reminiscences
7 On each others sight Twice the turio comes in front and twice the dancers come
in front
8 Walk to the left
9 Two steps forward and one step back.
10 Ghoi Chalo Dancing through the hank of Turia.
Costumes and Jewellery
Men and women wear their traditional dress and beautifully crafted ornaments during Tur dance among the Dhodiya tribe. They wear their traditional dress and ornaments specially on Matajis birthday, various festivals and weddings. Men wear white clothes while playing the tur during the maiyat or cremation yatra. They do not wear traditional dress or ornaments during corpse.
Among the Dhodias tribe, Tur dance is a dance performed by specially by men. In this dance dress they wear vest, hat, big handkerchief, boots, and gloves. Its uniqueness is that its complete dress is white in colour. So there is no logical reason as to why all the men should wear white. But generally the people of this tribe are quiet, gentle, cheerful, and happy and traditionally use white clothes exclusively, so white clothes seem to be associated with their dancing as well. When the brothers perform Tur dance, they tie a small handkerchief especially around their neck. In addition to the neck, they also keep handkerchiefs in their hands and around their waists and dance. This handkerchief is also white in colour.
As this dance is performed only by men, they do not wear any special gold or silver ornaments or pearl beads. When these men dance Gheraiya, they dance with a silver bangle in their hand, a ghughri jingling bells around their waist, an earring, a saree feta on their head, etc.
The people of the Dhodiya tribe also perform the Gheraiya dance along with the Tur dance. As important as the Tur dance is in this tribe, like the Gheraiya dance. Gheraiya dance is a symbol of their socio-cultural art & heritage. 30 to 35 chalas are performed in Gheraiya dance. Gheraiya dance is performed by both men and women together. This dance is performed wearing traditional dress and jewellery. In the Gheraiya dance, men wear bracelets on their hands, a ghughri jingling bells around their waist, an earring, a saree feta on their head, etc. While the women wears their traditional dress, ghaghra long skirt, odhani veil, handkerchief, silver necklace around the neck, bindi on the head, bangles on the hands, zanzars anklets on the feet etc. and dance. Gheraiya dance consists of 28 members. Sailya sings bhajan-garba and plays musical instruments in Gheraiya dance. Thus Gheraiya dance along with tur dance is especially popular among the Dhodiya tribe.
Music and Instruments
Among the Dhodias, the troupe, who traditionally perform Tur dance, is unique in as they are typically 40 to 70 years old. They are very rhythmic and dance to the tune of tur. Despite their advanced age, they can dance for three to four hours. Which shows their physical and mental ability and strength.
Tur dance has up to 24 members. These members have two sails. Sailya means people who sing bhajan or Garbo. When two persons are from the Sangeet Vrinda musical chorus, one plays musical instruments such as tura and thali percussion king gong bell. Tur dancing members alternate their harps with the rhythm of tur and thali. The entire dance is performed to the rhythm of thali and tur. The type of chala steps that plays the tur and the thali is represented. Along with this same type of bhajan or Garbo of Mataji is sung by Sailya.
People of Dhodia tribe play drum and thali as musical instrument in Tur dance. These dhols are made from a wooden tree called Sewan. Sewan wood is considered excellent for making drums. Leather of animal like cow, buffalo or big goat is used to make dhol. Paddy pulp and black ash are used to stick wood and leather to make drums. In earlier times clay pots called Khadaro were used for burning firewood and leather. Besides this, a small string and an iron link are attached to the cowhide to keep it tight. When the drum beats at the right time, the cord is pulled and tightened by tying the cord to the link. A medium thick string is tied around the neck of the drummer to hold the drum. This cord is very strong. The thali percussion kind gong bell is played along with a small drum in the dance. This plate is made of copper metal. Sometimes a bronze plate is also used in this dance.
Usually Tur dance is performed only if there is a space of 100 square feet and thus they can perform this dance well. They perform different types of chalas steps when they performing tur dance. In these steps they move around, move forward, move backward. Sometimes they also dance while standing so they can do well if they have a lot of space.
Just as the Tur dance is a symbol of the religious and spiritual belief of the Dhodia tribe, it is also a symbol of the socio cultural art heritage. Likewise, he symbolizes the professional and financial aspect as well. Today they perform this dance for free without changing even a single rupee from anyone in the village when they have to perform Tur dance when a person has died in the village, on cremation pilgrimage or on Matajis birthday or Holi, Diwali, Makarsankranti festival. They bring happiness, joy and cheer to the village people, but when they celebrate Matajis birthday in another village or city, they charge a occasion fee of Rs 15,000. When there is an engagement or marriage at a familys house in the village, they charge a fee of Rs 10,000. While outside the village in cities like Surat, Valsad, Navsari, on Matajis birthday or marriage occasions, they dance for one to two hours for a day and charge a fee of Rs 17,000. When going out, they charge the travelling fare separately.