Lehangi Dance

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Lehangi is a folk dance performed by the Banjara and Kanjar tribe of Madhya Pradesh. This dance is usually performed during the mid-monsoon period.

Lehangi is performed by young men holding sticks. These men produce rhythmic sounds by the beating of the sticks. This dance involves many acrobatic tricks.

Banjara tribe performs this dance during the festival of ‘Rakhi’ (festival celebrating the brother-sister relationship).

Some of the indigenous folk-dances of Madhya Pradesh are by nomadic tribes like the Banjara and the Kanjar of Bhopal commissionary. In this area, one comes across a dance form known as Lehangi. In the middle of the rainy season when nature comes to bloom the Lehangi is danced by young men over the beat of sticks which they hold in their hands. The Kanjars are professional acrobats.

On the Rakhi festival, the Banjaras of Nimad dance the Lehangi. When the festival of Dussehra approaches they start dancing Garbi and Dandia. Banjara dancers have a remarkable similarity in their mode. The men accompany the women either with songs or instruments.

The Banjara women are heavily decked with silver jewellery and wrapped in colourful clothes of contrasting embroidery and tiny inset of scintillating mirrors. In the Lota dance, with all the ornaments and heavy clothes, they balance big-size metal pots on their heads as they swing in a liner or a circular formation.

Lehangi is a popular folk dance of the Banjara and Kanjar tribe of the Bhopal commissary of Madhya Pradesh and is performed during the blossoming monsoon period. The Banjara tribe also performs this dance form during the festival of Rakhi. Young men hold sticks in their hands and rhythmically beat them while dancing.

Various acrobatic tricks, incorporated into the dance, lend a dramatic touch to the performances.

Image Gallery of Music and Dance in Madhya Pradesh- Lehangi Dance