| Deknni or
Dakhnni
It is a form of song-cum-dance in the Christian repertoire of song among
the people of Goa. It is a song composed by Christian artistes perhaps
an expression of the Goan Christian nostalgia for their lost Hindu past,
where the Devadasi or kolvont in Konkani was an alluring symbol.
The term Dakhnni in Sanskrit means devil of a female.
It is danced in a manner that verges on the voluptuous, with gyrations
and significant gestures which are so suggestive in character. The main
danseuse is joined by other females, enticing in their appearance, who
announce themselves to the audience. Then begins the pleading and coaxing
by the women, including finally the boatman with offerings of anklets,
bracelets, nose-ringlets, by turns and finally clinching the deal with
the offer of a kiss, which latter the boatman accepts in the surrender
to their wiles, to ferry them across to the other side of the river to
a place belonging to a man called Damu, where they have to perform at
the wedding.
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