Address:
AMDAVAD HAAT VASTRAPUR AHMEDABAD, AHMADABAD ,GUJARAT - 380015
About type of art
Name of Tribe Rathwa and Bhil Tribes
Dance Name Gheraiya Dance
Name of Performers with mobile numbers Mr. Rangubhai Rathwa Team Leader, Mobile no.
Meaning Significance
It is believed that in ancient times Raja Phanta and Ganda Thakur, the sons of Bhil king Toranmal, had the fixed task of celebrating the festival of Holi as Gheraiya. In which Raja Phanta Dev, Vinyo Dev, Ganda Thakor Dev, Baba Hirza Dev, Noktyo Dev, Merali Yah Yahmogi Mata, Rani Kajal Mata, Kalika Mata etc. Bhil God - Goddesses danced as Gheraiya It is believed that from ancient times traditionally tribals used to perform Holi festival celebrated at times. There is a belief that the name of this dance may have been derived from the name of Gheraiya especially these tribes dance in the form of gods and goddesses.
The Gheraiya dance is performed at home by the Bhil and Rathwa tribes, according to their traditions and religious beliefs, as part of a prayer to the gods and goddesses in times of trouble in their family and home. Gher dance in particular is a dance performed on full religious belief. Religious spirit plays a very important part in this dance. Among the Bhil and Rathwa tribes, the importance of gher dance is worship and worship of gods and goddesses for their familys well-being, prosperity.
Tribals are festival-loving people in they celebrate religious festivals with inexhaustible confidence, faith and religious spirit. It is with this religious spirit in mind that they have been celebrating various types of festivals since ancient times. These traditions have a lot of faith and belief and hence the people of Bhil and Rathwa tribes celebrate these festivals with pure and sattvic religious spirit with great joy and gaiety. People of Rathwa and Bhil tribes perform worship to their traditional gods and goddesses during this festival and dance at home along with religious worship during the festival of Holi to get well-being in their lives.
Performance Context
The tribal community is celebratory with festivals symbolizing the cultural, social and religious sentiments in their lives. Every month of every year is enlivened with several tribal festivals. These tribal festivals are full of religious, seasonal, tradition, customs, feasting, merriment and dance. Like other festivals, Holi is the main festival of the Bhil and Rathwa tribes of Rewa Kantha area. The men wear a white dhoti and a colorful silk handkerchief in the kade and a safa-shaped cloth belt in the kade and they dance in a circle. She has a unique look while dancing. While dancing, they feel the isolation of the body and the whole area hums. The entire Rathwa and Bhil tribes perform the Gheraiya dance in this Holi festival, celebrating the festival with joy and enthusiasm. Rathwa and Bhil tribes celebrate this festival in a unique way which gives immense joy and attracts people to their culture. Kawant taluk in Chotaudepur district of Gujarat state has this ger fair at the taluk headquarters i.e. Kawant itself. A ger fair is held on the third day of Holi in this town, which is about 100 km from Vadodara, where the ger fair of the Rathwa and Bhil tribes is held. The fair is the fair heart for the Bhil and Rathwa castes. This fair at Kawant brings together the tribal community in eastern Gujarat on the third day of Holi. This is a very important tribal fair. Rathwa and Bhil tribal men and women dressed in their distinctive beautiful colorful costumes gather to dance. The scenes seen in this fair are very mesmerizing, goods and services are also exchanged in this fair. The important factor of this fair is that the culture of the Rathwa and Bhil tribes is seen to be fused. People from all over the country come to see this fair and get mesmerized by these scenes.
This Gher no Mela of Kawant is also called the Traditional festival. Among the Bhil and Rathwa tribes, rituals, beliefs etc. are observed during the year. Besides, it is believed that the year will be good in the family, dhor dhakar, agriculture etc from serious diseases. Heals so they complete the shole year during Holi, with these tribals rejoicing in the Holi festival with the beat of desi big drums, the sound of various flutes and the rhythms of Gheraiya dancing in large groups, rising and falling. This dance is performed. In Gheraiya dance rhythmic music is tried with their fortunes, they are their own gods and goddesses who are only men in the guise of gods and goddesses like Raja Phanto Dev, Ganda Thakur Dev, Gimb Dev, Noctio Dev, Seemodo Dev etc. The costume is known as Gherani in which they are dressed as Merali Yahaki Mata and Kalika Mata. Some men wear a belt with sugar cane does and wears elaborate ornaments. Which is a conical hat. In Gher dance, Gheraiya Morna is prepared with peacock feathers of local deities surrounded by feather garlands and hung with small framed photos. Paint is made by mixing rice paste and ash to paint the body with circles and dots to ritually salute the jungle cat. A few men and women form a human pyramid together and finally everyone returns home in the evening. This is a one day fair.
Costumes and Jewelery
Men and women of the Bhil and Rathwa tribes dressed in their traditional colorful costumes and accompanied by traditional Vajitras to perform the Ger dance. Dances of Ger. In general, the dance troupe both male and female has a lot of variety and color combination that is the uniqueness of its entire outfit . Like That is a special kind of men dancing on their bare bodies white They make circular thums of clay on their body, which reflects their body color artistically with white dots, wear a peacock feather and a mirror glass on their head, and wear a heavy ghughra belt around their waist. This ghughra belt weighs approximately 10 to 15 kg. and wears a white dhoti . In this dance troupe, some men dance in the form of women. When men dress up as women, they wear hansdi, zanjar, tola or narrow and bracelets in their hands. While in gher dance, women wear their traditional dress especially red and blue color combination dress. A colorful handkerchief is worn over the dhoti,boots and gloves of white color are always worn on the feet, a peacock feather with floral decorations and a mirror are kept.As the dance is performed in the fair the performers wear a white bandi without exposing their body .men and women participate in Gheraiya dance .In the dance troupe, men join in the dance by dressing up as women If the naaras are seen dancing by women and men, the Gheraiya dance is a dance subject to a specific religious belief and is also called a pure and sacred dance as it is performed for the purpose of worshiping Holika Mata.Before performing the Gheraiya dance,the performers go to their surrounding forests to collect peacock feathers. And wears a tiara on the head by preparing a crown from the feathers of a peacock. Among the Gheraiya dance performers are those who dress up as women, not as women but as their traditional goddesses. Ke Merali Ya Hamogi Mata, Rani Kajal Mata, Kalika Mata etc. while in this dance how many artists dance in the garb of their traditional deity . So this dance is traditionally called the dance of religious worship .
Music and Instruments
Instruments commonly used for dances of all tribes are self made and repaired with very simple techniques and simple techniques. Five types of instruments are used in Gheraiya dance. Instruments are played with different types of rhythms. 1. Big drum 2. Thali 3. Flute 4. Tatodiyo 5. Khattu All these five instruments are prepared by the people of Bhil caste mostly by themselves. All the work was done by the tribals themselves The big drum used in this dance is bigger than the normal drum and it is made from the wood of a special type of tree. It is prepared from the wood of mango,teak, bia tree, from the wood of Himna. This dhol making operation is done by the artisans of all the tribal society by tradition.
In a certain period, the wood for making the drum is brought and its specific ritual is completed and the manufacturing work is done. After the Dhol is prepared, the belief of using it for its inauguration is also prevalent among the tribals.After the completion of this ritual the drum is used for the dance. The thali played along with the drum is usually made of brass which is available in all utensil shops in the tribal areas while the flute played in this dance is made from a special type of Bamboo available in the tribal areas and that flute is also prepared by tribal artists.Tatodios are made from clay and wood with leather from a tanner is offered which is played with two dindias sticks. Made from a special type of bamboo. This also each Gheraiya has a Tart made of clay Which is made from the circular shape of the water drinking mat, which is also above Leather from a leather craftsman tanner is offered which is played manually by the Gheraiya with a dindia cane made of a special type of bamboo.
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