Karma Festival and Dance -
Karma is one of the most popular festival of Jharkhand region celebrated by Adivasi community as well as Hindu. This festival falls in the month of August / September.
The name Karma is drawn from the name of a tree "Karam". The branch of a tree is worshipped, carried by the Karma dancers and is passed among them with singing and dancing. This branch should not touch the earth, as it is washed with milk and rice beer locally known as Handia. Then it is raised in the middle of the dancing arena. All worshipper dances for whole night in the praise of the "Karam".
The ritual starts with the planting of the trees. The dancers form a circle and dance with their arms around each other's waists. During the dance they pass the branch of the tree. During the dance, the men leap forward to a rapid roll of drums. While women bend low to the ground with their feet moving in perfect rhythm to and fro, until the group of singers advances towards them.
There are many varieties of Karma dance and the most popular varieties of the dance are Lahsua and Khare. Karma Dance is common among the Gonds and the Baigas subgroups of Adivasi (Tribes). It is also one of the oldest dance form in India is the only dance form which is common to the many ethnic groups of India.
Watch Karma Dance Video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpR-crU75Bc
Video Title: Karam Gaad De uploaded on youtube by www.jharkhandi.org
Karma festival greetings to all of you from Jharkhand (India) Network
