Video | Munda songs and dances – Jharkhand

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The Mundari Dance is a very common and popular dance of the Mundaris. All members of the community can participate in this dance. This dance is generally performed to celebrate the newly weds. Munda songs are often mixed with songs in other tribal languages in such a way, that one can rarely identify the pure Munda elements in their songs. Munda phrases and idioms, when properly decoded, are as thrilling as any exciting discovery. The remarkable similarity between Munda songs and dances and those of other constituent tribal groups in the culture of Jharkhand, lies in this form of group dancing, performed with the swinging of the dancers’ bodies with especially expressive mudras or gestural language. The movements of the dance are very repetitive. The dance style has only a few steps. They move forward a few steps and then backwards the same steps.

Source: Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre
Address: https://ezccindia.org/jharkhand.html
Date Visited: 19 June 2020

Munda’s rebellion had shaken the foundations of the British empire, fighting the British army’s advanced weapons with bow and arrows. He died under mysterious circumstances in the Ranchi jail, and has, since then, been remembered as a martyr. […]

The song [written by the prominent activist and poet of 1990s, Vilas Ghogre and performed by the cultural group Samta Kala Manch] called ‘Jangal Cha Raja’ tells Adivasis that, “you stay near the mountains, you are the king of jungle. You work in the farm, you grow grains and still you are hungry. Your generations have lived in jungle and you only are restricted to cut the woods. You’re indebted to money lenders. This is the time to resist!”

Source: “In Photos | Warli Adivasis Recall Birsa Munda in Fight to Save Aarey” by Sushmita, The Wire, 20 November 2019
URL: https://science.thewire.in/politics/rights/warli-adivasis-birsa-munda-aarey/
Date Visited: 29 March 2022

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Tribal culture in Jharkhand – Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre >>

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