Dhuli Danda Nata– Representation of Socio-religious and Agricultural Life of the People of Western Odisha

Abstract

Danda Nata is a widely known as a folk theatrical performance like a religious festival by the rural agricultural communities of the Western and Southern part of Odisha. It takes place once in a year at the beginning of April (Chaitra) and continues for a period of 13 or 21 days that culminates on Maha Visubha Sankranti. In this folk theatre not only dance, music and drama, but also an elaborate range of rituals are performed. It is a festival that dates back to the 8th-9th century AD during the reign of the Somavansi of Subarnapur and the Bhanjas of Boudh. It is thus a religious-theatrical festival participated by the tribal and non-tribal people without any caste discrimination. A day of performance comprises five different phases of Danda or punishment or penance namely, Dhuli Danda, Pani Danda, Agni Danda, Bana Danda and Suanga Danda. Dhuli Danda is performed on the ground in the afternoon under the hot sun of April. It consists of short sequences that represent a mixture of rituals, sports, military drill, exercise, yoga, fertility rites, sacred drama, divine possession, dance and other cultural performances. Physical exercises, pranks and ritualized sequences are combined with one another to form a fluid, though sometimes prove ambiguous, a perfectly dynamic structure. Danda Nata, thus, has played a vital role in the development of folk literature in western Odisha.