Punjab, like its eastern counterpart West Bengal celebrates myriads of festivals. Besides the usual weddings, parties, birthdays, joys, sorrows, victories and deaths, religion also plays a significant role in Punjabi culture and folk dance. Julli or Juli is one such dance performed by the ancient Muslim Pirs.
The revered Muslim saints and recluses, who are popularly known as pirs perform the sacred Juli dance during their pilgrimages called khangahs. This dance is performed in various forms. Sometimes the dancers who are clad in pure black clothing remain sitting, while on other occasions, the dancers dance around the graves of the venerable and the departed.
Sometimes a sole hermit also performs this holy dance. The Juli dancer dances with his toes constricted and clutching a thick wooden staff in his hands and covering his skull with a dark, black scarf. The faithful disciples, locally known as the murids, sometimes embellish their black apparels with a ghungroo around their waists. These decorative bells jingle merrily as the dancer sways to the lilting melodies of the holy chants. The dance is brisk and swift and depicts the athletic prowess of the holy men. It rapidly gains in cadence and then slowly dies down in pace.
To add a modern appeal to this beautiful dance performed by saints and vagabonds, brimming with religious fervor elements of Bhangra have been skillfully blended keeping the unique traditional spirit of Julli alive.
