Karma, Sela and Dadariya folk dances staged in Bhopal

The 'Gamak' series run by the

Tribal Museum

in Bhopal is one of the most awaited events in the city. The series lets tribal artistes from not only different parts of the state, but other states also perform on their folk dances and songs. This time too, the series brought native dances from the region of Gond tribes in

Madhya Pradesh

. Shyamvati Bai and her group brought along the dance forms of 'Sela' and '

Karma

' to the auditorium of the museum. The group also brought along native musical instruments like Timki, Mandar, Manjeera and

Shehnai

to provide the tribal folk tunes to the dancers.
The dance form Sela is performed with short sticks, similar to dandiya from Gujarat - which gives it the name sela. This is typically performed on the full moon night of the hindu month of Sharad or better known as Sharad Poornima. Even on Diwali, the sela reena geet and dance is performed by the tribals. Sometimes, these

performers

also go to showcase their talent in neighbouring villages, on invitation.
Karma on the other hand is a more devotional performance. The dancers dance to the tunes of the folk music instruments and in the hindu month of Bhadon to praise their favourite deities of worship. The performers also presented another dance form called Dadariya in addition to these.