Chari Dance, Rajasthan
Chari dance of Rajasthan is noted for its graceful movements. A famous dance of women belonging to the gujjar community of Kishangarh, Chari dance can sometimes be considered as the traditional fire dance of Rajasthan. In this dance, dancers carry brass pots on their heads balancing them to perfection and these pots are kept ignited with cotton seeds dipped in oil. These lit pots present a beautiful sight in the dark night.
This dance performance does not have any particular movements except balancing the pots on their heads. The instruments accompanying in this performance are dhol (a kind of drum), bankia (a trumpet-like brass instrument ) and thali (an autophonic instrument).
Chari
Chari is another ritualistic dance that primarily belongs to the Saini community of Ajmer and Gujjar’s of Kishangarh. Enacted by women, it is usually performed on special occasions, such as the birth of a male child, marriage or festival. It symbolises joy as well as representing the ritual of collecting water in chari, which means pot. The women are attired in traditional outfit and dance while balancing brass chari on their heads, along with a lighted lamp in it. The dance is accompanied by sounds of dholak, harmonium and nagada (percussion instrument).
Chari Dance :-
Chari dance is one of the popular folk dances in Rajasthan India. This dance describes the art of collecting water in a chari or pot by the Rajasthani womens in their day to day life. The woman’s travels miles to collect water for the families and the joy is reflected through this Chari dance. This folk dance is performed by groups of dancers. In chari dance woman hold chari or pots on their head and a lighted lamp is then placed in the pot. The famous Chari dance belongs to Gujjar community of Kishangarh and only womens perform in this dance. These ladies carry brass pots on their heads balancing it to perfection. These pots are kept ignited with the cotton seeds dipped in oil. These lit pots display beautiful effect in the dark night. While performing the Chari dance woman dance with balancing brass pots (Chari) on their heads and move together and dance on a same sequence. This dance does not have any particular movements except balancing the pots on their heads. This dance is also known as a welcome dance and is a significance of goodness. It can also be considered as the traditional fire dance of Rajasthan.
Chari Dance
Rajasthan has a lot of inadequate water supply and gathering water from a far distance is a part of everyday life of women folk. The women go many miles just to collect water to fulfill their daily needs. While going they express their joy through the Chari dance. Dancers while balancing brass pots on their heads, perform various steps & dance to gain perfect patterns of movements with their hands. To make the performance more attractive, the flames from cottonseeds are set alight on the pot, so that the bobbing heads create streaks of illuminating patterns as they move effortlessly around the floor. This is popular performance in the Kisherigarh region. This dance demands a lot of patience and balance on the part of dancer. The dancers carry brightly lit brass pots on their heads, displaying many flexible movements of the body.