Most of the folk dances of
Rajasthan are very graceful and require great skill and dexterity. However when performed well these dances are a sight to behold and thus have gained immense popularity the world over. Chari or the popular pot dance is one such folk art that is received globally with awe and admiration and represents the grace of Rajasthan’s culture well.
The Rajasthani woman performs the Chari, a sprightly dance even while carrying an earthen urn or brass pot on her head. What is most amazing is that a lighted ‘diya’ or oil lamp is placed in this urn and its glow is visible throughout the period of the dance. The perfect balance and adroitness of these dancers commands reverence and applause whenever the Chari is performed.
This dance is performed on special occasions and on festive days. Graceful movements of the limbs, deft swirls on the knees and the rhythmic pulsating music entrance and enthrall the hearts of the viewers. Chari performers are trained right from childhood and only when the art of balancing the pot is mastered do the performers graduate to dancing with the lamp in the pot.
The womenfolk of the Kisherigarh region of the state of Rajasthan specialize in this dance form and the region has produced the best known Chari performers. Sometimes the oil-rich cottonseed is burnt instead of the diya and is placed in the pot. Years o rigorous practice is needed to acquire this skill and thus the women avoid any risk of getting burnt.
The grace, the music and the sparkling colors of their costumes illuminated by the diya’s soft glow, Chari is indeed a dance of the spirited women devoted o upholding their traditions even in modern days.
