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Kalbelia

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Snake Charmers 1868.

TheKalbeliaare asnake charmingtribe from theThar DesertinRajasthan,India.[1]The dance is an integral part of their culture and performed by men and women.

Kalbelia Tribes[edit]

A Rajasthani folk dance, Kalbelia

Kalbelias are followers of Sage Kanifnath, who drank a bowl of poison and was blessed with control over venomous snakes and animals.[2][3]

Kalbelias are divided in two main groups, the Daliwal and Mewara. The Kalbelias moved frequently from one place to another in ancient times. Their traditional occupation is catching snakes and tradingsnake venom.They rear snakes, dogs, hens, horses, donkeys, pigs and goats. Hence, the dance movements and the costumes of their community bear a resemblance to those of the serpents. They are also called Sapera and Jogira, Gattiwala and Poogiwara. The largest cluster of the Kalbelias is inPali district,followed by significant other groups inAjmer,ChittorgarhandUdaipur district.They live anomadiclife and belong to thescheduled tribes.[4][5]

Traditionally, Kalbelia men carried cobras in cane baskets from door to door in villages while their women sang, danced and begged for alms. They revere thecobraand advocate the non-killing of such reptiles. In the villages, if a snake inadvertently happened to enter a home, a Kalbelia would be summoned to catch the serpent and to take it away without killing it. Kalbelias have traditionally been a fringe group in the society, living in spaces outside the village where they reside. They live in makeshift camps calledderas.The Kalbelias move theirderasfrom one place to another in a circuitous route repeated over time. Over the generations, the Kalbelias acquired a unique understanding of the local flora and fauna, and are aware ofherbal remediesfor various diseases which, in turn, is an alternative source of income for them.[citation needed]


Since the enactment of theWildlife Act of 1972,the Kalbelias have been pushed out of their traditional profession of snake handling. Now performing arts are a major source of income for them and these have received widespread recognition within and outside India. Opportunities for performance are sporadic, and also depend on tourism, which is season specific, so members of the community work in the fields, or graze cattle to sustain themselves.[6]

The Kalbelias areCultural Hindusand practicesnake worship;they worship theNāgaandManasa,and their holy day isNaga Panchami.The Kalbelias have different traditions from the majority of Hindus. The Kalbelia men wear aApadravya.Kalbelias bury their dead, instead of cremating them (as is common with Hindus in the rest of the country). The groom has to pay the bride's father a price for the bride and the groom's father has to pay for the wedding.[7]

Kalbelia dance[edit]

A Kalbelia dancer performing in desert

The Kalbelia dance, folk dance of rajasthan performed as a celebration, is an integral part of Kalbelia culture. Their dances and songs are a matter of pride and a marker of identity for the Kalbelias, as they represent the creative adaptation of this community of snake charmers to changing socio-economic conditions and their own role in ruralRajasthanisociety.

An image of a dancer belonging to the Kalbelia tribe from Rajasthan, India

The dancers are women in flowing black skirts who dance and twirl, replicating the movements of a serpent. They wear an upper body cloth called anangrakhiand a headcloth known as theodhani;the lower body cloth is called alehenga.All these clothes are of mixed red and black hues and embroidered.

The male participants play musical instruments, such as thepungi,a woodwind instrument traditionally played to capture snakes, thedufli,been,thekhanjari- a percussion instrument,morchang,khuralioand thedholakto create the rhythm on which the dancers perform. The dancers are tattooed in traditional designs and wear jewelry and garments richly embroidered with small mirrors and silver threads. As the performance progresses, the rhythm becomes faster and faster and so does the dance.[6]

Kalbelia songs are based on stories taken from folklore and mythology and special dances are performed duringHoli.The Kalbelias have a reputation for composing lyrics spontaneously and improvising songs during performances. These songs and dances are part of an oral tradition that is handed down generations and for which there are neither texts nor any training manuals. In 2010, the Kalbelia folk songs and dances ofRajasthanwere declared a part of itsIntangible Heritage Listby theUNESCO.[6]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^"Kalbelia Folk Dances of Rajasthan".
  2. ^Kalbelia - Tribe of Rajasthan(in Hindi). Epic Channel. 21 March 2022.Retrieved11 July2022.
  3. ^"Kalbelia society did Guru Puja on Guru Kanifnath Samadhi Day".Dainik Bhaskar.28 November 2019.
  4. ^Singh, Kumar Suresh; Lavania, B. K.; Samanta, D. K.; Mandal, S. K.; Vyas, N. N.; Anthropological Survey of India. "Suthar".People of India Vol. XXXVIII.Popular Prakashan. p. 1012.
  5. ^Robertson, Miriam (1998).Snake Charmers: The Jogi Nath Kalbelias of Rajastan.Illustrated Book Publishers. p. 323.ISBN81-85683-29-8.
  6. ^abc"Kalbelia folk songs and dances of Rajasthan".UNESCO.
  7. ^"The Kalbelia - the Infamous Gypsies of Rajasthan's Deserts".

External links[edit]

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