Indian dancing

MANIPURI

yellow, red, or green, and usually of silk, with a wide border at the bottom of the skirt consisting of a design of sequins. Tiny square, round, or oval mirrors are scattered all over the skirt, which has a transparent muslin garment over it, embroidered with silver thread. As the dancers swirl round, the flashing mirrors reflecting the light produce a striking effect.

The male dancer wears a dhoti with embroidered bands across his chest ending in flaps that fall over both hips. In the Ras-Lee/a, Krishna is gorgeously attired in a pleated dhoti of gold or yellow silk, the chest being covered with glittering necklaces, while wristlets and armlets adorn the arms.

The Ras dances go on for several hours at a stretch, the accompaniment being the songs of Vaishnava poets, such as Jayadeva, whose verses ate vety popular. The honeyed melodies of Meera, Krishna’s devout disciple, are also greatly in vogue. The ritualistic, _ as opposed to the merely spectacular, dances have Krishna as the central figure. He dominates the scene in the Do/ Jatra performed in spring, and the J/w/an in the monsoon, or season of the rains.

Manipuri dancers firmly believe that when they dance the gods descend to earth to join their revelry. Thus the very name Last toraba signifies ‘sporting or making merry with the gods’. Girls, gaily dressed, begin the dance with offerings of flowers and fruits. The men then join in and pick their partners, dancing the story of Khamba, the poor boy who fell in love with the princess Thaibi. Actually, this dance is the Hara-Parvati done in the Manipuri technique. It is very robust.

The animism of the Manipuris, preceding their conversion to Hinduism, has left its stamp on their dance art, and in the Laz Hairobi it is pronounced. This is an annual ceremony performed in evety village for the purpose of propitiating its La/, i.e. God’s seat, ot the dwelling of Lam.

SUMMING UP

The Naga tribes of Manipur are a superstitious people and most of their rituals are meant to propitiate the spirits that are supposed to infest the jungles and streams of their land.

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