We know India is a country of different cultures and diversity. And along with those cultures, the culture of dances also exists in India.
In India, there are two types of dances - Classical Dance (Which are 8 in number), Folk Dance.
In our previous article, you learned about the Classical dance of India. And now in this article, we will talk about Folk dances of India, What is Folk dance, History of Folk dance, Differences between Classical dance and Folk dance, List of Folk dances of India.
In a country like India, dances are performed by people to express their happiness on festive or any happy occasion.
Since ancient times people consider dance as the best medium to express their happiness. And thus the tradition of dancing started on the occasion of various festivals.
The dance that is developed by the people which reflects the life of people of a certain country or region is called Folk dance.
It is very simple with no professional training and is performed with traditional music.
Folk dances are very easy and generally performed to express happiness in rural areas.
Earlier it was not performed on stages. But now it is also being encouraged to perform on stages.
Folk dances are important because they help to keep the culture of any particular reign alive.
If we talk about the origin of folk dances, it has originated from various rural areas before the 19th century. And developed with human life.
In it, sometimes men, sometimes women, and sometimes both dance together. People of rural areas consider Folk dance as the best medium to express their happiness.
Therefore, along with rural culture, it was also developed.
Folk dances are much simpler than Classical dances.
There are 8 Classical dances of India but there are no certain numbers about Folk dance.
In Classical dance, the rules have to be followed strictly. But there is nothing like this in Folk dances. Folk dances are very easy to perform and there is no such restriction in it.
Classical dances are generally performed on a special occasion. But there is nothing like this in Folk dances. Folk dances are done to express their happiness on the occasion of childbirth, marriage, festivals, and the arrival of seasons.
Classical dance and Folk dance costumes vary.
Classical dances generally originated in temples, On the other hand, Folk dances originated and developed with human life.
There are only 8 Classical dances of India which are recognized by the Sangeet Natak Academy. India is a ‘Union of States’ and each state of India can have many Folk dances, as you can see from one place to another, there is a difference in Folk dances based on caste, religion, and groups.
It reflects the culture and traditions of the community from where it originated. So it is difficult to tell exactly how many folk dances are there in India. You can see the list of all Folk dances of India state-wise in the below table.
Each state of India has its own separate Folk dance and the number of folk dances in a state can be one or more. Here you can see the list of Folk dances of India.
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State |
Folk Dances of the state |
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Jammu and Kashmir |
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Himachal Pradesh |
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Punjab |
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Uttarakhand |
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Haryana |
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Uttar Pradesh |
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Rajasthan |
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Gujrat |
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Madhya Pradesh |
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Bihar |
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Chhattisgarh |
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Jharkhand |
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Maharashtra |
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Goa |
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Andhra Pradesh |
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Kerala |
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Karnataka |
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Tamil Nadu |
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Odisha |
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West Bengal |
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Assam |
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Arunachal Pradesh |
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Manipur |
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Meghalaya |
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Mizoram |
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Nagaland |
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Tripura |
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Sikkim |
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Lakshadweep |
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