Art & Culture Quiz: Folk Dances of India

The correct answer is A, Assam. Bihu is danced chiefly at Rongali or Bohag Bihu, the Assamese new year festival that falls in April and opens the sowing season. Young men and women dance in rows to the dhol, the pepa made from a buffalo horn, the gogona and the taal, with quick hip movements and short steps.

Option B, Manipur, has Lai Haraoba as its old ritual festival and the drum dance Pung Cholom, while its Raas tradition is counted among the eight classical forms. Option C, Tripura, is the home of Hojagiri, danced by Reang women balancing on an earthen pitcher, and of the Garia dance. Option D, Nagaland, has tribe-wise dances such as Chang Lo of the Chang and the Zeliang dances, shown together at the Hornbill festival. All four are north-eastern states, which is exactly why the paper setter groups them, but Bihu belongs to Assam alone.

The correct answer is B, Rajasthan. Ghoomar is danced by women in a wide ghagra who move in a circle and turn on the spot, the swirl of the skirt giving the dance its name. It grew from the Bhil community and was taken up by the Rajput households of Rajasthan, where it is danced at weddings and at festivals such as Teej and Gangaur.

Option A, Gujarat, is the home of Garba and Dandiya Raas, danced during Navratri, and this is the commonest confusion because both are circular women's dances in full skirts. Option C, Haryana, has Khoria, Dhamal, Loor and Phag, and a Haryanvi form also called Ghoomar exists, but the dance asked for in examinations is the Rajasthani one. Option D, Madhya Pradesh, has Matki, Tertali, Badhai and Grida. Fix the pair as Ghoomar for Rajasthan and Garba for Gujarat.

The correct answer is C, Maharashtra. Lavani combines song and dance and is performed mainly by women in a nine-yard saree to the sharp beat of the dholki. It grew alongside Tamasha, the folk theatre of Maharashtra, and its verses range from the devotional to the sharply witty.

Option A, Goa, has Fugdi, Dekhni and Dhalo, and the song form Mando, all shorter and gentler in tempo than Lavani. Option B, Karnataka, is the home of Dollu Kunitha, Veeragase and the folk theatre Yakshagana; Yakshagana is a frequent distractor because it too is a staged form. Option D, Chhattisgarh, has Panthi of the Satnami community, Raut Nacha, the Bastar dances Gaur Maria and Gendi, and the narrative singing Pandwani made famous by its performers. The dholki and Tamasha together identify Lavani as Maharashtrian.

The correct answer is C, Jharkhand. Chhau is a martial masked dance of eastern India with three recognised styles, and Seraikella Chhau takes its name from the former princely seat of Seraikella in Jharkhand, where the royal house trained and refined it. Its masks are small and smooth, and the dance leans on stylised gesture rather than raw combat.

Option A, Odisha, is the home of Mayurbhanj Chhau, the one style danced without any mask, so the expression is carried by the face itself. Option B, West Bengal, is the home of Purulia Chhau, which uses large brightly painted masks and enacts battle episodes such as Mahishasura Mardini. Option D, Bihar, has Jat-Jatin, Jhijhiya, Paika and the folk theatre Bidesia, but no Chhau style. All three Chhau styles together were inscribed by UNESCO in 2010.

The correct answer is A, Mizoram. In Cheraw, men sit facing each other and hold long bamboo staves horizontally, clapping them together in a steady beat, while women in the Mizo puan step in and out of the closing gaps without letting a foot be caught. It is the best known dance of Mizoram and is shown at the Chapchar Kut festival.

Option B, Meghalaya, has the Khasi thanksgiving dance Ka Shad Nongkrem at Smit and the Garo harvest festival Wangala, known as the hundred drums festival. Option C, Sikkim, has Singhi Chham, the snow lion dance honouring Kanchenjunga, and Maruni. Option D, Arunachal Pradesh, has Bardo Chham of the Sherdukpen and Ponung of the Adi. Bamboo staves in the question point to Cheraw and therefore to Mizoram every time.

The correct answer is B, Tripura. Hojagiri is danced by women of the Reang community of Tripura, who balance on an earthen pitcher while keeping a bottle with a lit lamp on the head, and bend the upper body while the feet stay still. It is performed during the Hojagiri or Laxmi puja festival that follows Durga puja.

Option A, Nagaland, has tribe-wise dances such as Chang Lo of the Chang and the war dances shown at the Hornbill festival, none of them built on balancing. Option C, Manipur, has the martial Thang-Ta, the drum dance Pung Cholom and the ritual festival Lai Haraoba. Option D, Assam, has Bihu and the Jhumur of the tea garden communities. The pitcher, bottle and lamp together are the signature of Hojagiri, and the community named with it is the Reang.

The correct answer is C, Karnataka. In Dollu Kunitha the dancers hang a large drum, the dollu, from the neck and beat it while moving in fast formations, and the dance belongs to the Kuruba shepherd community, who perform it in the service of their deity Beereshwara. Kunitha itself means a ritual dance offered to a deity, and Karnataka also has Veeragase, a dance of the Veerabhadra devotees, and the folk theatre Yakshagana.

Option A, Telangana, has Perini Shivatandavam, the Bathukamma dances of women and the Lambadi dance of the Banjara. Option B, Tamil Nadu, has Karagattam with a decorated pot on the head, Kolattam with sticks, Kummi and Oyilattam. Option D, Kerala, has the ritual forms Theyyam, Padayani and Mudiyettu and the women's Thiruvathirakali, danced at Onam. All four are southern states, which is why they are grouped in the options, but the drum named dollu and the Kuruba shepherd community together point only to Karnataka.

The correct answer is A, Rajasthan. Kalbeliya is the song and dance tradition of the Kalbeliya community of Rajasthan, who were traditionally snake charmers, and the dancer in a black swirling skirt imitates the movement of a serpent to the been and the khanjari. UNESCO inscribed the songs and dances of the Kalbeliya on the list of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity in 2010, the same year as Chhau and Mudiyettu.

Option B, Gujarat, has Garba, which was inscribed much later, in 2023. Option C, Punjab, has Bhangra and Giddha, neither of them on the UNESCO list, though the craft of the Thatheras of Jandiala Guru in Punjab was inscribed in 2014. Option D, Haryana, has Khoria, Dhamal and Loor, which have no UNESCO listing. Remember 2010 for Chhau, Kalbeliya and Mudiyettu together.

The correct answer is C, Punjab. Bhangra is the men's dance of the Punjab harvest, danced at Baisakhi in April to the beat of the dhol, with leaps, shoulder work and the raised arms that everyone recognises. Its women's counterpart is Giddha, in which short verses called bolis are sung and clapped between the steps.

Option A, Himachal Pradesh, has Nati, the long chain dance of Kullu and the hill districts, and Namgen. Option B, Jammu and Kashmir, has Rouf, danced by women in facing rows, Dumhal of the Wattal men in tall caps, Hikat, and the folk theatre Bhand Pather. Option D, Uttarakhand, has the sword dance Chholiya of Kumaoni weddings, Jhora, Langvir Nritya and the Ramman festival of Chamoli, which UNESCO inscribed in 2009. The dhol and Baisakhi together fix Bhangra to Punjab.

The correct answer is A, Meghalaya. Nongkrem is the harvest thanksgiving dance of the Khasi people, held over several days at Smit, the seat of the Khyrim chiefdom near Shillong, where unmarried women dance in the centre in heavy silver and gold ornaments while men dance around them with swords and whisks. The Garo of the same state hold Wangala, the hundred drums festival, at the end of their harvest.

Option B, Mizoram, has Cheraw, the bamboo dance, and Khuallam. Option C, Assam, has Bihu at the Assamese new year and the Jhumur of the tea garden communities. Option D, Sikkim, has Singhi Chham, the snow lion dance, and Maruni. The Khasi people and the village of Smit identify Meghalaya, and the paper often names the tribe rather than the state.