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Haryana’s boundaries were redrawn by
politicians, with the division of the Punjab into two States. But
the land where this small State now lies has a long history and a
thriving culture.
The law book of Manu
designated Haryana as Brahmavarta from where the Brahmanical religion
and social system grew up and spread outwards to the rest of the
country. In a sense, therefore, one can say that much of the Hindu
religion and society was formed on the flat, dry plains of
present-day Haryana. In the epic of the Mahabharata, it was at
Kurukshetra, during a battle between that Kauravas and Pandavas that
Lord Krishna delivered one of his most important messages, through
the celestial song – the Geeta.
With Delhi as the prize
awaiting generations of invaders, Haryana served as a part sort of
geographical corridor. Over the centuries, waves of invaders poured
across the plains of Haryana, sometimes fighting battles there. At
the end of the 14th century, Timur led an army through the
State towards Delhi. In 1526, the Moghuls defeated the Lodis at the
Battle of Panipat and 30 years later, in 1556, the Moghuls won yet
another decisive battle there. By the mid-18th century,
the Marathas were in control of Haryana, an era that was brought to
an end only by the third battle of Panipat in 1761.
With all this martial
progress across their lands, it is hardly surprising that the people
of Haryana are a brave and proud race and, inevitably, the different
races and creeds that traversed the land left traces behind. A prime
example of this is the co-existence of Muslims and Hindus and Sikhs
in the State and the existence of a robust local folklore and folk
culture that have survived battles, incursions and politics.
What is late 20th
century Haryana like? It is still at heart an agricultural State, a
land of hard-working farmers and their equally sturdy wives who help
out with much of the farm work. The Haryanvi is a simple,
straight-forward, no-nonsense person who believes in the virtues of
hard work and then, when the work is done, of enjoying himself and
relaxing. The small towns and villages that cover the State are
slowly coming to terms with such modern-day intrusions as video shops
and satellite dishes but there is still a robust folk tradition that
has survived. Haryana is, generally, a prosperous State and even the
smallest village will have bustling markets and shops where the
farmers and their families arrive on their tractors to do their
shopping.
The background to much of
the State’s popular culture is essentially agriculture and
martial and both the folk dances and the accompanying music appeal to
the farmers and villagers who predominate in the State’s
population. Haryana has a wealth of folk dances which are usually
performed at weddings, births, festivals and, of course, during the
all-important harvest times.
A dance called ghoomar
is especially popular in the west of the State towards the border
with Rajasthan and is only danced by girls. It is performed at such
festivals as Holi, Gangor Puja and Teej and depicts the girls
carrying the thalis of offerings to the temple for their Puja.
The girls sing while they dance in a turning movement and as the
tempo increases the girls form pairs and swirl faster and faster.
As in many communities
and regions in India, weddings give rise to many dances and much
revelry. Another all-female Haryanvi dance is the Khoria
dance which is usually performed during the long wait for the
bridegroom to bring his new bride home. The women often mime the
entire wedding ceremony.
It is not only the women
of Haryana who dance. At harvest time, when the farmer can sit back
and rest a little, a very popular men-only dance is often performed
called the dhamal. The been player opens the proceedings with
a long note which is taken up the other instruments as the dancers
start. Many of the dancers carry sticks wrapped with tinsels and
with tassels at both ends which are called shuntis. The men
form a semi-circle and bowing down to the ground they invoke the
blessings of Lord Ganesh, the Goddess Bhavani and the Trinity of
Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh. As in many folk dances, the choreography
of the dhamal is simple with much energetic jumping. Individual
prowess is of course shown off to great advantage in this kind of
dance and the shuntis are often used to great effect. Sometimes in
the dance, the men imitate – with much teasing – the women
of the village.
Both men and women dance
together in another popular Holi dance called the phag. The
men open the dance during which they act out the spirit and actions
of Holi and then they invite the women to join in. These arrive
carrying koraras which are knotted lengths of cloth with which
they try to hit the men who defend themselves with their shuntis or
sticks.
All these dances are
performed to songs whose lyrics are almost naïve in their
directness and simplicity and which are based on traditional Haryanvi
folk tunes. The songs tell of honour and bravery, of harvests, of
romance, of the sorrow of parting and are always couched in
uncomplicated everyday language. The instruments that accompany
these dances and songs are the been, the sarangi, the flute, the
shehnai and the dholak and nagara.
The people of Haryana
love bright colours, especially at festival time, and the dresses of
the dances are often dazzling, literally, with lots of tinsel.
Typically, women wear a calf-length ghagra made from at least
20 metres of fabric and short kurti on top the chundri
that covers their head glitters with tinsel and the women wear lots
of heavy silver jewellery. The men are almost as bright with their
dhotis and kurtas and contrasting coloured sashes and,
of course, vivid pink and read turbans.
As well as folk dances
and folk songs, Haryana also has a strong tradition of folk theatre
called saang. Saang theatre is restricted to men who play the
female roles, the latter often involving elaborate make-up and
costumes. These plays are usually performed in the open on a simple
raised platform and with no backdrops or curtains. The audience sits
on three sides of the platform and there is always a chair reserved
for the director-cum-producer known as Panditji or Ustadji.
Essentially Saang folk plays consists of long question and answer
sessions between the actors and since much of the dialogue is
improvised, the actors must be able to trade quotations and puns and
proverbs and songs at the drop of a hat. The subject matter varies –
sometimes popular ballads. Sometimes historical events and often
satire is woven into the dialogue. There is much singing and dancing
and there is always a clown character called the makhaulia.
Thankfully, for the
future of folk culture, since so many of Haryana’s songs and
dances relate to the harvests and to the traditional, accompanying
festivals, as long as there is agriculture festivals, as long as
there is agriculture in the State, there will always be a distinctive
Haryanvi folk tradition.
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