Folk dances steal the show on second day

On the second day of the National Tribal Dance Festival, folk dance competitions based on the theme 'traditional festivals, rituals, harvesting and other practices' were held in the capital city. Competitions of this category started with Jhinjhihanna folk dance of Uttarakhand. This traditional dance of Tharu community is performed by women in the month of Quar-Bhado to commemorate the arrival of the new crop. Women go door-to-door perform Jhinjhi dance and take the donation of flour and rice with 'ghada'on their head. Jhinjhi is considered to be a form of divine and is customarily immersed in the river. After this ritual, the rice and flour so collected are used to prepare a feast for people. Similarly, the Hanna dance is performed by the men of Tharu society, in which they go to every house and take donations of flour and rice. Uttarakhand team's performance was a combination of both these folk dances.

Later, Karma dance was presented by the participants of Chhattisgarh state.

It is noteworthy that Karma dance is performed on the day of Ekadashi in the month of Bhaado, in the memory of King Karam Sen, to worship Kalmi (Karam Dal tree). People of the community offer prayers and perform karma dance throughout the night praising the deities. This folk dance gives a message of environment conservation and love for nature.

Thereafter several other acts including Gusadi Dimsa by the team of Telangana, Oraon by Jharkhand, Gair Ghumra by Rajasthan, Dhamali by Jammu and Kashmir and Gaur

Sing dance by the team of Chhattisgarh were performed.