Thursday, March 28, 2024
Punjab

Arts


Folk Dances

Jhumar

The Jhumar is a folk dance of the harvest season. Although it shares many features with the Bhangra, it can be clearly distinguished from the latter on account of its thematic content and its emphasis on recreating the gaits of animals and birds. In the Bhangra, there is not attempt to show the movements of sowing and reaping the harvest; in the Jhumar all the functions of daily life are recreated and the pairs of dancers who come into the central area, often imitate the movements of the animals they rear. Two men become bullocks of the field, a third plough and the fourth a farmer. The gaits of the animals, the ploughing of the field, sowing of the seeds and harvesting are shown step by step. The crops are cut and then the dancers again rejoin into a circle and dance very much in the manner as of the Bhangra.