Karma Dance
Among the Gonds and the Baigas of Chhattisgarh and the
Oraons of the north-west fringes of Madhya Pradesh, the Karma dance is very common. This form is associated with the fertility cult and fundamentally related to the Karma festival that falls in the month of August.
The dance is filled with breath of trees. The men leap forward to a rapid roll of drums. Bending low to the ground the women dance, their feet moving in ideal rhythm to and fro, until the group of singers advances towards them.
The Majhwars of Sarguja district dances the Karma towards the beginning and the end of the rainy season. The
Gonds and the Baigas of Mandla and Bilaspur districts dance it at any time they wish.
There are other variants of the Karma. The songs related with these variants diverge with each pattern. The
Thadi, the Lahaki, the Khalha, the Jhumar and the
Jharpat are the variations of Baiga Adivasis dance.
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