Sheopur - Culture

Culture

In Sheopur the major spoken language is Hindi and local dialect is Hadoti.

Folk Dances:-

Ahiri Dance:-

This dance is related to people who have traditionally been in the business of cattle herding. In different parts of the state these people are known by different castes such as Ahir, Baredi, Gwal, Rawat, Raut, Gwala etc.

Baredi or Yadav dance of Bundelkhand:-

This dance has been associated with the biggest Hindu festival Diwali. On the night of Diwali people worship Laxmi, the Hindu goddess of wealth (after all no body can live without money), and cattle. Next day on the occasion of "Padva" or "Parva" cattle are sent to jungles or ranches after being decorated with flowers and garlands. They are given special dishes as food. Yadav dance is performed on the same occasion. Dancers dance in a circular path while singing songs. Sometimes they sit or lie down on earth and suddenly they restart their dance. Rhythm of the song is very low in starting and increases with time. Music instruments are started only when two lines of the song are finished. Primarily these are two line couplets. Sometimes these are in form of questions and answers. This dance continues till Kartik Purnima.

Dress:-

Dancers, instrument beaters and their associates wear a clean turban on head. Some people like to put on Dhoti up to knees (long cloth wore by men enwrapping their waist). Some people specially dancers wear colorful shorts. Dancers also keep bunch of peacock feathers.

Saharia Dances:-

Saharias are tribal people who live in jungles. They work in farms and also collect medicinal plants from jungles. There are several dances of Saharias. Some of the important ones are: Lur Dance, Lanhgi Dance, Dul-Dul Ghodi Dance, Raya Dance, Ada-Khada Dance.

Lur dance of Saharias:-

This dance is performed on the occasion of marriage starting from the day of ritual of "Haldi" (In this ritual whole body is pasted with turmeric and after sometime it is removed so the body is cleaned) till the arrival of Barat (Bridegroom comes to the house of the bride with his relatives and friends for marriage ceremony).

Lanhgi dance of Saharias:-

This dance is also known as Danda(baton) dance because Saharias dance with small batons in their hands with which they strike at each other and perform Lanhgi dance. Only men are allowed in it. This dance is performed on the occasion of Bhujarias, Teja ji puja and Aekadashi etc.

Dul-Dul Ghori dance:-

This dance is performed on the occasion of marriage by males. In this dance a hollow case of ghori (mare) is prepared of bamboo sticks. The dancer stands in the hollow place and dances. (Depicts various movements of mare.) There is also a joker in women clothing. People sing folk songs during the dance.

Musical instruments:-

Mradang, Dholak, Ramtula, Dhapli, Manzira, Jhanz etc. are used in this dance.