Bison Dance from Madhya Pradesh (Currently out-of-stock)
DH01
Brass
6x3x1 inches
Made in India
$69.50
This antiquated Dhokra (lost wax casting) item depicts tribal dancers from the popular Bison dance of Madhya Pradesh in India. Bison dance is one of the important tribal dances of Marias of Abhujmaria plateau of Bastar in Madhya Pradesh, and is basically performed on the occasion of marriages. This picturesque and vigorous dance of joy and invocation, is called Bison dance. It appears to be a hunter's dance and involves imitation of the frisking, jerking movements of the animals. The men wear a horned headdress with a tall tuft of feathers and a fringe of cowry shells dangling over their faces. A drum, shaped like a log, is slung around their necks. The women, their heads surmounted by broad, solid-brass chaplets and their breasts covered with heavy metal necklaces, soon join the assemblage with their tattooed bodies. They carry dancing sticks called Tirududi in their right hands and tap them to conform with the drum-beats.