Rajasthan's Folk Dance and Music

Major folk dances and the community behind them

Rajasthan's folk dances are very often rooted in the tradition of a particular tribe or caste, which later went on to gain much wider popularity. Ghoomar was originally performed by the Bhil tribe in worship of Goddess Saraswati and local deities; Rajput households later adopted it and refined it into a cultured courtly dance. Today it is considered Rajasthan's most representative dance, performed by newly-married women at weddings and festivals.

The Kalbelia dance is associated with the Kalbelia (snake-charmer) community, who traditionally worked at catching snakes; after the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972, this community turned to dance performance as a livelihood. It is most prevalent in the Pali, Ajmer, Chittorgarh and Udaipur regions, and in 2010 UNESCO inscribed it on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

The Chari dance is performed by Gurjar women of the Ajmer-Kishangarh region, in which a brass pot (chari) balancing lit lamps is carried on the head while dancing — it is believed to have developed out of the everyday tradition of fetching water. The Terahtali dance is performed by women of the Kamad caste, especially well known in the Pokhran and Didwana regions; in it, thirteen manjiras (small cymbals) are tied to different parts of the body and the dance is performed seated, with the songs sung in devotion to Sant Ramdevji.

The Gair dance is performed mainly by the Bhil community, in the Vagad region (the Dungarpur-Banswara belt), by men in a group on the occasion of Holi, moving in a circle. The Shikar (hunting) dance is associated with the Sahariya tribe of Baran district, in which scenes of a hunt are acted out — this exact fact was asked in REET 2024. The Bhavai dance is a feat-based dance performed by women of the Bhavai caste, in which they balance seven or eight earthen pots on their heads, sometimes while balancing on shards of glass or the edge of a sword; it is prevalent mainly in the Udaipur, Dungarpur, Banswara and Chittorgarh region.

Dance-community-region matching

Major folk instruments

Ravanhattha

A stringed instrument associated with the Bhil and Bhopa communities, used in ballad-singing

Kamaycha

The main instrument of the Manganiyar community of Jaisalmer-Barmer

Sarangi

An instrument played by the Langa caste of Jaisalmer-Barmer

Algoza

An instrument formed by playing two flutes together; one of Rajasthan's principal folk instruments

Festivals and literary connections

Every region of Rajasthan has its own cultural festival — Jodhpur's Marwar Festival, Jaisalmer's Desert Festival, and Jaipur's Elephant Festival are all well known; the Thar Festival is held in Barmer, not Bikaner — REET aspirants often mistakenly link it to Bikaner (which is in fact known for its Camel Festival).

Rajasthani language and folk literature also fall within this same cultural section. The linguistic surveyor George Abraham Grierson, in his 'Linguistic Survey of India', was the first to use the term 'Rajasthani' for the state's language, while Colonel James Tod gave the region the name 'Rajasthan'. The folklorist Vijaydan Detha ('Bijji')'s story collection 'Sapan Priya' and his work 'Bataan ri Phulwari' are known for giving Rajasthani folk tradition a literary form.

Professional folk-singer communities: Manganiyar and Langa

In the desert region of Jaisalmer-Barmer, the Manganiyar Muslim community has, for generations, been known as professional folk musicians. For centuries they have received patronage (under the jajmani tradition) from Rajput thikanedars, Charans and merchant families, and their songs have served as a way of preserving the valour of kings and historical events across generations. The Langa caste of this same region also sings for its patron families, and is regarded as expert in instruments such as the sarangi and the Sindhi sorinda. Today, the folk singing of both the Manganiyar and Langa communities has become an identity of Rajasthan at desert festivals and on international stages alike.

Alongside dance and music, puppetry is also a major folk-art tradition of Rajasthan, run mainly by the Nat and Bhat communities. Through wooden puppets moved by strings, folk tales such as that of Amar Singh Rathore, along with stories of kings and queens, are narrated, accompanied by the dholak and sarangi. This art form is another important, non-dance part of Rajasthan's cultural identity, and REET can ask about it alongside dance and music.

A shared feature across all these folk arts is that they are learned not at any formal training institution, but generation after generation, within family and community. This is exactly why, when studying these for REET, the most effective strategy is to memorise the dance/instrument's name, its associated community, and its geographic region together, as one linked set — because the exam very often gives two of these three and asks you to identify the third.

How to teach children

REET 2024 questions asked (with solutions)

Practice questions

Frequently asked questions

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