Kamad tribe of Rajasthan depicts in their dances their pastoral and rural life.
The main dance of the tribe, who are the worshipers of Baba Ramdev, is the Tera Tali Dance. The Kamad tribe practices this dance as a part of a ritual to propitiate their deity.
Etymology of Tera Tali Dance
While performing the dance, the participants carry a Manjira in each hand and strike this in thirteen different ways. There is also a belief that the performers tie thirteen Manjiras to the body and from here the dance got its name.
Performance of Tera Tali Dance
In this dance, both the men and the women take part with equal enthusiasm. The women do the dancing while the men take care of the singing part. The male performers sing and play a single string instrument, called `Ektara`. Sometimes another string instrument called Chau Tara is also used. The women sit on the ground and engage themselves in dancing with small cymbals tied all over their bodies, mostly on the legs, in a particular fashion. Bhajans or hymns or folk songs mainly accompany the dance.
Through their dancing gestures, they portray their agricultural works like cleaning, thrashing, cutting and removing the corn, kneading the flour, preparing breads, making ghee out of curd, spinning on the spinning wheel and winding the yarn. To exhibit all these works, the dancers sway, shift and slide on the ground. An interesting part of the Tera Tali is that the dance movements resemble that of a snake`s.
During various festivals like Holi and others the Bagati woman goes from door to door and the man plays on the "Chang".
Props Used in Tera Tali Dance
The performers use various interesting props in this dance. They cover their head with a decorative veil. They take a small sword which is quite artistically supported between the teeth. The dancers also carry decorative brass pots of various sizes on their head.
Costumes of Tera Tali Dance
The costume of the female dancers is vibrant and colourful. They clad themselves in beautifully embroidered ghagras (long skirts) and cholis (top). They also adorn themselves with jewelleries like necklace, ear ring and lots of bangles.
